Emerald Fire
by blossomed-angel
Summary: Set in their 6th year, ie PreHBP. Hermione Granger is framed for a crime she did not commit. Attacked by everyone around her, she flees, but what has fate got in store for her? Some sadness, humour, betrayal, loyalty
1. Betrayer or Betrayed?

Author's note:

Just a note to say that nothing in this fic that is recogniseable from J.K.Rowling's stories belong to me. The plot is mine, so no stealing!

I hope you enjoy the fic - please review!

--blossomedangel--

* * *

Hermione was bewildered; no, beyond that, astounded – shocked, whichever word you wish to use that conveys a message of complete and utter confusion, along with a strong sense of disbelief and a slight tinge of panic. 

She was, at the moment, in the headmaster's office, surrounded by her friends – Harry, Ron, Ginny – and the headmaster and deputy headmistress herself. The last person to fill the remaining place in the ring of people present was, the one and only, Professor Snape.

Now why is the most popular, intelligent sixth-year girl, standing, looking flabbergasted, under the scrutiny of all those present?

It so happens that, a few minutes, or seconds rather, before, Hermione had received a very shocking piece of news indeed. The whole sequence of events started off with, upon the arrival in the headmaster's office, being ushered in front of the three, looming professors. Anyone who had eyes would have been able to see that Severus Snape, who was usually scowling and irritated with the world and bitter, was furious. More furious than when Sirius Black had escaped from his clutches almost three years previously, more furious than when he had found Harry Potter spying in his pensieve, more furious than the night he had been betrayed and had his life spared by the person he loathed even more than James Potter and Sirius Black. His face was flushed and his nostrils flared; eyes burning in hatred, and fists clenching and unclenching in righteous anger. No one had ever seen Severus Snape this angry before. And the focus of his anger was on Hermione Granger, Gryffindor Know-It-All, Muggle-born witch and best friend of Harry Potter.

The reason, allegedly, was because—

"Miss Granger, we have received reports that you have betrayed us." Dumbledore said.

There was no twinkle in his eyes; a solemn and grave gleam replaced them. On the other hand, Hermione was stunned. Her friends were also, and immediately looked from the headmaster to the five-foot and a half-tall girl. Hermione's composure faltered.

"What? What do you mean?" Hermione asked.

For the first time, she did not understand something that a teacher had just said.

"Miss Granger, it was you who betrayed me to _Him_." Snape hissed.

There was no doubt as to who 'He' was.

"But that's not possible! Hermione's our friend!" Harry argued.

Oh what useless words! However, they had an encouraging effect on Hermione, and she smiled gratefully at him. However, this did not stop the shaking of her hands, nor the trembling of her lower lip as she tried fervently to hold back her tears.

"I'm sorry, Harry, but this information came from very reliable sources. Miss Granger, can you tell us what you were doing last night at one o'clock?" Professor Dumbledore asked.

"I-I was in bed. I h-had been working l-late a-and—"

"Miss Granger, you were seen leaving the school, wearing Death Eater garments at that moment in time."

"B-but how could it have been me? I was in bed!" Hermione said, bile rising in her throat. "And how could the person have known it was me, if Death Eaters wear masks and have their hoods up?"

"And how do you know that, Miss Granger?" Snape asked, still flexing his fingers as though he were refraining from strangling someone.

"It was in the book called 'The—"

"We do not need to hear your excuses." Snape snapped.

"But—"

"Miss Granger, you have been seen more than four times. And, people have seen you sending owls carrying messages to Voldemort." Dumbledore said gravely.

"But I didn't do it!"

"Join the Death Eaters? Or betray Severus?" Professor McGonagall spoke tersely.

That was when Hermione realised that there was no point fighting. Her Head of House, the one who she had always relied on like a second mother, the person she had trusted the most in this Wizarding community, had turned against her. When Hermione looked around, her friends had also taken a few steps back, having seen three of the most trustworthy adults they knew accuse her of this heineous crime. This is the point at which we entered into the story.

Hermione looked at Harry.

"Surely you don't believe this, Harry?"

When she received no answer, because Harry had looked away, unable to make eye contact, she turned to Ron.

"Ron?" She said, despair creeping into her voice.

"I don't know, Hermione, I mean… Professor Dumbledore hasn't gone wrong before, at least, not very often. And… three professors! I'm sorry, Hermione, but I'm – I'm not sure whether I should trust you anymore."

"Ginny?" Hermione asked.

It was her last hope, but that too was dashed, when Ginny looked down at the floor. Hermione could hold her tears back no longer. They ran freely down her cheeks. She felt stung by their rejection- their betrayal of her trust.

"None of you! I thought—I thought—"

"That is the price of betrayal, Miss Granger." Snape said harshly.

"I never betrayed anyone! Let us see the evidence then! Show me what incriminating evidence has decided that I serve H-him!"

Snape snarled at her, but swiped something off Professor Dumbledore's desk. It was a silver mask. It reflected the light, and the portraits began to mutter amongst themselves. He dangled it in front of her face.

"This was found under your bed." He paused to let the words sink in. "What did he promise you, Miss Granger? Power? Glory? Recognition?"

"I don't want any of those things! I'm happy as I am!" Hermione cried.

"What about the safety of your family?" McGonagall said quietly.

There was silence in the room. Hermione had nothing to say to that.

"Do you think… you think that I would join _them _and _worship _th-that thing to save my family? That I'm more willing to sacrifice my friends…"

"It's possible." Dumbledore said.

"But how do you know somebody didn't plant it there? Somebody must have! It's not mine!" Hermione said, pointing at the mask and walking to Dumbledore, pleadingly.

"Alas, we do not have any proof of that. However, this is enough to tell us that you must be separated from Harry."

"Please don't—don't send me back into the Muggle world! I'll find out who framed me! I promise!"

"We will not expel you until we have hard evidence. As you say, there is no evidence that this mask is yours, but there is no evidence saying that it is not, either. We are taking precautions, and we would have had to tell Harry, Mr. Weasley and Miss Weasley, as well as yourself, before doing so. We were also trying to see whether you would confess, but, as you have not, you are free to go. Innocent until proven guilty."

Hermione ran from the room, sobbing. But, by the time she reached Gryffindor Tower, news had already spread, courtesy of the paintings, and people spat at her as she entered into the common room.

"You really had me fooled." Seamus said spitefully, before storming up to the boys' dormitories, followed by Dean, who was glaring at her.

The girls had put their nose high into the air and walked to their dormitories, loudly saying horrible things about Hermione. The younger years were all terrified and immediately scurried away. Only those of the year above stayed, but not without shooting hateful glances at the poor, frozen, girl, standing at the entrance. The portrait opened, and Harry, Ron and Ginny entered, but none of them would look her in the eye as they went past.

The week passed by terribly. The Hufflepuffs, known for regarding loyalty very highly, were just as bad as, if not worse than, the Gryffindors, who had all taken to giving Hermione the cold shoulder. The Ravenclaws, who had always been angry with a Gryffindor beating them all academically, were positively delighted with the chance to taunt the girl. The Slytherins, regardless of her true loyalties, treated her as they always did, and jeered at her for having no friends, not even snivelling Longbottom. In fact, the Slytherins began to attack her more often, in the corridors, in classrooms, because she could not defend herself against a whole group of them. The other houses just stood by to watch. Strangely, inter-house unity seemed to have improved, much to Dumbledore's pleasure and Hermione's despair.

She often hid in the library, which was the only sanctuary from the large, vehement crowd, since none of them wanted to suffer Madam Pince's wrath for starting a ruckus in her precious library. But even here, Hermione was still verbally attacked by nearby Ravenclaws.

Finally, she could take the strain no longer. She burst into tears and found a book called 'Wizarding Schools in the World'. She filled in all the necessary application forms. Professor Dumbledore and McGonagall, who had to send references for her had both pleaded with her to stay, but she refused. Even the teachers had not come to her aid when she was suffering in the hands of her peers. Her parents had been harder to convince, but eventually, they consented, appalled at the events that had occurred.

So, less than two months since her meeting in the headmaster's office, during the Easter holidays, she was to be transferred to Phinxgild. Surprisingly, Dumbledore had kept it secret from the rest of the school, and Hermione had been more than relieved.

Unfortunately as the holidays approached the intensity of the torture increased. Once, she was ambushed by a group of seventh-year students in a deserted hallway. Two of them were Slytherin, obviously the ones who planned this, one was Ravenclaw – the one with the knowledge of the spells, one was Hufflepuff – watching for teachers, and two Gryffindors. It was the Gryffindors and the Slytherins who cast the hexes and jinxes at her. Although Hermione was able to defend some of the curses, most of them hit her, and she was gravely wounded. They were not yet finished when Hermione heard the footsteps of a teacher approaching. However, none of her attackers noticed until he was right behind them. They immediately stopped.

Hermione looked up into the unforgiving face of Severus Snape. She was bruised and bleeding with cuts and bumps all over her. It was fairly serious this time, as she was barely conscious. She reached out a hand, pleadingly, towards him, begging him for help, hoping against hope… After all, he was a figure of authority. With one withering stare, he would be able to send these people into epileptic fits. There was a long period of silence, which stretched on and on. In response to her suffering, he only stepped out of her reach, turned around and walked away.

That moment was most likely the worst of Hermione's life. All of her respect, all of her trust, for the Hogwarts teachers slipped away as he disappeared around the corner of the corridor. The group decided to cast a few more slicing hexes before scattering, leaving Hermione in a bleeding pile on the floor.

Hermione sobbed. Her heart was so, so heavy. As were her eyelids. The pain was excruciating, although not as bad as the Cruciatus, the pain was numbing, and she began to feel cold. So cold. She could no longer move. She cried, because she knew she was innocent, and she was the one who had been betrayed. She was the one who had been let down. She was the one whose friends had deserted her. She was the one who was being punished, but why? Why, out of all the Hogwarts students, why her?

She was vaguely aware of some people passing by. There was a sudden stop, as though hesitating as to what they should do. Finally, Hermione felt herself being lifted up by a spell, and she was slowly lifted down the corridors, in the direction of the Hospital Wing.

Madam Pomfrey was angry at the perpetrators - possibly the only member of staff who pitied Hermione, if only because the extent of her injuries were so severe.

"Fractured bones in your hands, cracked kneecap, dislocated shoulder, broken left wrist, broken right arm, fractured right femur, crushed cheekbone..." Madam Pomfrey looked up from her list at the bruised and battered girl lying in the bed, seemingly unconscious. "And not a single point deducted? My word!"


	2. Escape

However, even the old nurse's patience grew thin.

"For Merlin's sake, girl, use that brain of yours and stand up for yourself!" Madam Pomfrey snapped when Hermione wobbled in about the hundredth time that term.

On the day of her departure, also the last day of the term, she woke early, and left the dormitory as silent as a mouse would have done. She had packed the night before, and her belongings were hidden in the locked cupboard in the bathroom. She had been afraid that if she left the things in plain sight, people would decide to jinx her belongings. It was sad that things had become so desperate. She retrieved her suitcase and charmed it to follow her as she made her way down to the common room.

It was still very early, much before dawn, so she was surprised to stumble upon Harry and Ron talking in low voices on one of the sofas. Unfortunately, she was not able to pass unnoticed, and they fell silent when they realised her presence. Both looked away from her, whether in shame or distrust, and began studying the fireplace intently. Hermione believed the answer was more likely to be the latter, but Hermione decided to speak to her friends, one last time, before she left for Phinxgild. No matter what their reactions, her conscience would not be soothed unless she had at least made some effort.

"Harry… Ron… I don't care whether you believe me or not, but I never betrayed you. And... you probably won't see me again." Hermione said quietly.

Ron's head snapped up.

"Are you going back to the Muggle World?" he asked, looking shocked.

This was the first time her best friends had spoken to her in weeks. If Hermione were not leaving, she would be swooning in happiness.

"No. I'm transferring schools." Hermione said.

"Why?" Ron asked again.

Hermione laughed.

"Isn't it obvious?"

Ron flushed and tried not to look at Hermione's face. Hermione's eyes were bloodshot and swollen from nightly grieving and she had cuts and bruises all over her. She had not tattled on anyone, although the headmaster had asked her to give him names. No, she let people hurt her, and she did not tell on them, because, one day, they would realise she was innocent, and when that day came, they would regret it. What better revenge would that be? Whether she would forgive them or not, was yet to be decided. However, Snape… An image of his cruel smirk as he turned and left her lying helplessly on the ground, almost beaten to death, flashed across her eyes. Tears threatened to spill over, but she held them back.

"No. This will be our last good bye. I suppose… I don't blame your reaction, Harry, nor yours Ron, since you both think that I have betrayed you."

"Are you saying Dumbledore's a liar?" Harry said quietly in rage.

"I never said anything of the sort." Hermione snorted. "I'm just saying that he has been misled."

She left then; out through the portrait-hole, down the stairs, down the familiar hallways… She touched the walls and smiled at the paintings, most of which held sleeping characters, and remembered the events that she had been present at. The Triwizard Tournament seemed like another lifetime ago. Tears fell, once more, but these were tears for the happier memories. She shook her head and turned away. The temptation of one last glance in the Great Hall was too great for her to escape. She went inside and shut the door behind her, before sitting down at the seat she used to sit in, when Harry and Ron were still her best friends.

The ceiling was a dark pinkish colour. The colour of the sun peeping just above the horizon and spreading its rays from the East. It was still too early for the students to get up, but the hall was already immaculate – courtesy of the house-elves. She sighed, remembering when she was still campaigning for S.P.E.W. She gave up on that quite a while ago, after repeated arguments with Ron. She lay her head on the table and stared blankly at the wall.

Her escort to the school was due to arrive at seven, and Hermione sat in the Great Hall for three hours, waiting, before she made her way out again. Just before her hand reached the handle, a voice stopped her.

"You will be missed, Miss Granger."

"Good morning, Professor Dumbledore." No matter how hard she tried, she could not keep the cold and bitterness from her voice.

Half of her really wanted revenge, and wished Hermione would just strangle the old man, but seeing him, standing just behind her, looking old and tired, melted her hatred and bitterness temporarily. His eyes were very sad.

"I doubt that people will miss me very much. At least, inter-house unity has been gained… at my expense." Hermione said dryly.

"I wish that it had been achieved some other way than violence."

"No one stepped in to my aid, Professor. Not even you." Hermione knew her words would wound him, but her anger was building and she felt the need for vengeance even stronger now.

"I apologise d—"

"No, Professor. You are not sorry. You are glad that there is peace within the school. You sacrificed me, Professor, and you should have considered that the night you summoned us to your office. You had no solid proof. You did not allow me to investigate, nor did you allow me to defend myself." Hermione said harshly.

It was only then that the headmaster truly saw the emotions that Hermione now had. Gone was the childish happiness; gone was the want for acknowledgement; gone was the burning desire for adventure. In her eyes, there was a broken spirit peering out at him. A broken and bitter person stood before him. She was a stranger. She was no longer the child who cared only for perfect results, or the one who had helped Harry save Sirius Black all those years ago. Her eyes were filled with pain. Dumbledore looked away, unable to look further. The first students began filing in for breakfast, just as a gong-like sound echoed through the Great Hall, causing the few who were present and had been glaring at Hermione, to look out into the Entrance Hall. Hermione held her head high and left the Great Hall, followed by Dumbledore.

More people appeared. Some whispered as they saw a tall, elegantly dressed man step into the Entrance Hall. He was tall, and had a certain air about him. Should he have walked into a crowded ballroom, he would have been the focus of most, if not all, of those present. He wore robes of a dark blue shade, and his brown eyes twinkled just as Dumbledore's did. He, too, had a beard, though not as long as Dumbledore's and his was brown, as his hair was. He looked young, and the creases on the corners of his eyes betrayed him to be a rather jolly person. He shook hands with Dumbledore and they chatted for a while.

More and more students began to appear. Hermione was the only other person than the two men, who was standing in the area below the steps. She did not look up at the other students, nor did she acknowledge their presence. However, she could hear the vicious words being spoken about her.

"Look it's that hag!"

"The frigid little b—"

"She's leaving? That's good."

If only Hermione had not been friends with Harry, then this whole fuss would not have been so big. But, if she were given the choice, she would not exchange them for anyone else, nor the memories of their times together.

Soon, the man finished speaking and he introduced himself to Hermione.

"Miss Granger? It is a pleasure to meet you. I am Professor Faleys. Come, I expect that you would like to say goodbye to a few of your friends before we leave?" He said.

"No, thank you, Professor. I have already said goodbye… to the ones that count." Hermione said, putting on as bright a smile as she could muster.

She could see Dumbledore's expression changing to one of surprise from her peripheral vision. _Omnipotent my ar--  
_

"Very well. It is time for us to move on. I think that you will be able to settle in very quickly. We will be in touch, Professor Dumbledore?"

Dumbledore nodded and smiled.

"Thank you for all the kindness that you have shown me _in the past_, Professor." Hermione said, bowing slightly in respect, but still emphasising the fact that he had betrayed her trust.

Out of the corner of her eye, she noticed Snape pausing for a moment and looking slightly surprised. Hermione wondered why she ever defended the man. He was exactly what Ron said. Thinking of Ron, Hermione turned once more and caught his and Harry's eye, before leaving. Strangely, both seemed to be a little sad to see her go, even though she had 'betrayed' them. Dumbledore handed a small rusty key to Professor Faleys, who held Hermione's hand, who was clenching the handle of her suitcase tightly. Suddenly, there was a jerk behind her navel and the world became a whirlpool of colours.

They arrived at their destination with a bang. Quite literally. Hermione's suitcase had bounced and burst open with a loud clamour. Hermione had barely enough time to wave her wand, muttering a spell, to stop the contents from spilling out. She lost her balance and toppled onto the floor, much to her embarrassment. But Professor Faleys lifted Hermione to her feet, smiling jovially. Finally, she was allowed to look around her as they made their way through the building. As they walked, Professor Faleys began describing the school to her.

Phinxgild was originally a small house, comprising of one teacher and a small group of children, but as time passed, it grew and grew, until there were a little less than two hundred students in the school. The building, to Muggles, looked like an abandoned factory, but actually resembled a very old and large manor. There were four towers at each corner of the school, one for each house. The centre was about the size of three Quidditch pitches side by side and seven stories high. It was not quite as grand as Hogwarts, but there was a very mysterious, yet homey, feeling in the corridors. Some parts were dark, some parts bright. There was also a courtyard. Students got up later in this school, but finished later in the day as well. Some even had lessons after dinner. The grounds were extensive, and despite there being a large number of requests for a Quidditch pitch, it was non-existent for the moment. The school was originally founded for those who were not able to travel so far up to Hogwarts, or wished to be day-students.

As for everyone attending a new school. The surroundings are very unfamiliar and strange, and one feels uncomfortable after a while. However, Hermione was, like in a trance, listening attentively to the Professor, and only noticed, when they had reached a large portrait of a golden sea-nymph, that her suitcase was not with them.

"Oh! The house-elves will bring it up to your room once you have been sorted. We have a Sorting Hat too. It was an idea we took from Hogwarts." He chuckled as he said a password.

The portrait swung open, and they entered into the office. Inside, it was very neat. She knew immediately that this was the headmaster's office. There were strange things decorating the walls. They were magical items, and Hermione could tell that they were very rare, and very old, possibly ancient.

"Where is the headmaster?" Hermione asked.

The Professor smiled at her, before sliding into the seat behind the desk.

"Why, I am here!"

Hermione was shocked. She stammered an apology, but he merely laughed and gestured for her to sit. She obeyed and was offered tea, which she gratefully accepted. As they were both drinking their teas, Hermione felt his eyes on her, and she looked away.

"Miss Granger. I know what you have been accused off," Hermione shifted uncomfortably as he said this. "but as long as there is no solid proof, I am going to treat you as an innocent, because, for all we know, you are. However, should serious injuries be caused at your hand, I mean, more than the usual occasional hexing that you get in the corridors," He chuckled again. "I will be forced to suspend you. From what I have seen so far, you seem like a very intelligent and sensible girl, and I don't see how… anyway, you are safe from harm here, and nobody will know what you do not want to divulge; other than your name and age and house, since you must be sorted."

Hermione was feeling less uncomfortable. The headmaster seemed to understand that she had not been in terribly good relations with her classmates in school. She smiled and nodded. Hopefully she would be able to forget the past and move on, now that she was away from Hogwarts. But, how she missed it terribly!

"Let me explain to you what the four houses are. As you probably know, they are not named after the founder, but instead, after different stones: Topaz, Amethyst, Emerald and Diamond. The founder of Phinxgild was related to the founders of Hogwarts, so there are similarities between the houses. Diamond is the equivalent of Ravenclaws, Topaz is Hufflipuff, Amethyst – Gryffindor, and Emerald is Slytherin. The hat chooses the one it thinks suits you best, but you can decide to go elsewhere. The Emeralds are much less strict about the need to be pureblood, and the most powerful and ambitious witches and wizards go here regardless of heritage. Diamond is the house for those who have a great potential in learning and research, and may not necessarily be intelligent. They only need to be resourceful and have the potential. Topazes in general are the most kind-hearted and make very good peacemakers and decision-makers. The Amethysts are usually very courageous and direct, but many, who are as cowardly as a person from any other house, which may not be very much less than the Amethysts, are loyal to boot and treasure friendship more than any other house."

He sighed.

"You may have been a Gryffindor at Hogwarts, but I must warn you that you may not be Amethyst, so do not be shocked if you are sorted elsewhere. All of the students are a mixture of what the houses represent, but some of their qualities are more prominent than others. Ah! Breakfast should be over by now. How time flies!"

And so, Hermione suddenly found herself being ushered across the school, and through a side-door and into a large assembly hall. All the students immediately fell silent. It was obvious that the only ones present were sixth and seventh years. In the middle of the stage was a stool with a ragged old hat on it. The headmaster stepped forward and spoke. Even without a charm, everyone could hear his voice clearly.

"Good morning! Now, as you have all guessed, or at least, I've hoped you've guessed, that we have a new student who is going to be continuing her studies here. Her name is Hermione Granger. I hope that you will all make her feel as welcome as possible. Come over, Miss Granger."


	3. Hope?

Hermione walked shakily to the hat. It felt like first-year all over again. Standing under the gaze of about fifty people made her heart beat quicker and adrenaline to pump around her body. She swallowed and tried to ignore the thumping in her ears as she sat down and put the hat on her head. It slipped over her eyes and she found herself in total darkness.

"Hello, Hermione."

"Hello."

"You seem a little sad… ah, so that is the reason. It is so seldom to see the great Albus Dumbledore make mistakes that people often believe him without second thoughts. Do not worry yourself, although the road gets bumpier, things will brighten. Now, let's see. A bravery that is fading, revenge is in your heart. My, you are ambitious, aren't you? Highly intelligent, but you would not benefit academically or otherwise being in Diamond. You are well-meaning, but your temper is rather short, so not Topaz. Amethyst or Emerald… You think that being in Emerald is like being in Slytherin? Well, there are a few Muggleborns in Emerald already, do not fear. So, what is your decision?"

"Do you think I'll do better in S-Emerald than in Amethyst?" Hermione asked, surprised.

"No doubt. Amethyst will only serve to remind you of the past, and, although lessons are to be learnt from the past, one should not dwell in it for more than necessary."

"I accept your decision." Hermione said, a little reluctantly.

"Oh good! EMERALD!"

Hermione slipped the hat off and thanked the headmaster, before going towards the group of students, all of whom seemed to be clapping enthusiastically. She noticed that one group were cheering and waving at her, so she assumed that she should go in that direction.

"Now, continue as normal for your last day of school. I am sure Miss Granger would like to become acquainted with many of you and begin finding her way around. Off you go!" The headmaster said merrily.

Everyone stood up and left, smiling at Hermione as they passed. It was such a strange thing, to see people smile genuinely at her after such a lengthy period of time that had consisted only of others slighting her. One of the Emerald girls held out her hand.

"My name's Phoebe."

"Hermione." She said, shaking hands with the black-haired girl.

Phoebe was quite tall and very pale. She was also extremely thin. Her teeth were a brilliant white and her eyes were dark brown, on the border of being black. Hermione was glad that she had the sense to change into her new school uniform before she left Hogwarts, she would have been late for class.

"I'm William, just call me Will, not Willie, mind you."

A boy appeared beside Phoebe and held out his hand to Hermione. He had sandy brown hair, and deep blue eyes. He seemed nice enough.

"What subjects are you doing for your NEWTs?" Will asked.

"I'm taking Defence Against the Dark Arts, Potions, Herbology, Arithmancy, Transfiguration, and Charms."

"Woah! Six subjects! Merlin's beard…"

"Oh good! That means we'll actually have someone else to help bring up our house points instead of losing them, Will." Phoebe shot at him.

These people were completely different to the stand-offish, snooty, pure-blood brats who said they were Slytherins. Will pretended not to notice Phoebe's glare.

"Come on! Since all three of us take Transfiguration, we'll go together. And then—"

"And then, Hermione is going to stay away from you to escape your bad influence and hopefully learn her way around. Knowing you, you'd take her straight to the Sneaky Stairs!"

"No I wouldn't!"

"Where are you taking her now?"

Hermione noticed a distinct change of direction.

"To lessons."

"Humph!" Phoebe said.

Hermione noticed that the walls were usually made of grey stone with a rough texture. In the assembly hall, the floor, ceiling and walls were made of marble. When they entered the Transfiguration classroom, the walls were made of a white, smooth stone. The Transfiguration teacher was Professor Stix. He was crouched over in what seemed like a very painful posture. He was half-deaf, and whenever he could not hear what a student was saying to him, he would say;

"Eh? What are you saying?"

And most of the class would burst into little giggles when someone, like Will, played a prank on him by saying something like:

"Sir, there is a werewolf behind you."

And of course, the Professor would move forwards, very slowly because he had something wrong with his legs, and cup his ear with one hand and repeat his trademark phrase:

"Eh? What are you saying?"

Hermione was going to remind Will that werewolves only existed in that form at night under the full moon, but she bit down on her tongue. No sense in making a reputation of being a Know-It-All, since it only gave her grief in Hogwarts.

Amusing as the Professor was, he taught very well. Hermione found herself being dragged off to Defence Against the Dark Arts next by Will, who did actually bring her to the Sneaky Stairs. She found out why it was 'sneaky' by nudging him forwards first, causing him to lose his balance and trip down a few steps. Suddenly, one of the floorboards disappeared and his legs shot through the gap, much to his dismay. He managed to escape his predicament, after a while, and everyone made it safely to class. Unlike Hogwarts, the stairs did not move, much to Hermione's disappointment.

The teacher was a very tall and skinny woman, who reminded Hermione very much of Harry's Aunt Petunia. Her hair was tied very tightly in a bun, as Professor McGonagall would have done, and she spoke in a very high-pitched voice. Hermione could see that this was one teacher that no one dared to mess with. When she saw Hermione, she invited her to the front of the class and asked Hermione to make a demonstration on how well she could duel. To everyone's surprise, Hermione very nearly beat the teacher. They duelled solidly for ten minutes, and only then did Hermione make her fatal mistake. She had only just managed to dodge a stunning spell, and said a spell that conjured a mist, so that Madam Viarra could not see. However, this also caused Hermione great difficulty in seeing where Madam Viarra was, until she realised that the teacher was behind her and she was in a full body-bind.

"Well done, Miss Granger. That was a refreshing duel. Makes me feel young once more."

She freed Hermione and sighed. Madam Viarra was about late forties, which wasn't very old to say in the least. She had hardly any grey or white hair in her tightly done blonde hair. Hermione smiled at the compliment and returned to her desk. Phoebe did not take Defence Against the Dark Arts.

"What's the point? All this combat stuff isn't going to be useful for me." Phoebe shrugged. "I'm not planning on fighting any wars."

"She basically thinks fighting is beneath her because she wants to cure people." Will added.

Charms was interesting. The woman who taught it was a very cheerful person and was so passionate about it that if someone asked her a question on something total irrelevant to the topic at hand but was some obscure part of Charms, she would rattle on for half the lesson before realising that nobody was listening and then continue teaching. Of course, Hermione was very interested to hear what Professor Featherpea had to say, and was the only person awake after half an hour.

Then, it was Lunchtime. Hermione used to think that the Great Hall was noisy during meals, but that was nothing compared to here. People yelled from one side of the room to another, chucked things here and there, did homework on the table, and if one end of the table began a food-fight, others nearby, who did not partake, merely moved onto another house's table and mingle with them. This sort of inter-house camaraderie never existed in Hogwarts.

The layout of the dining hall was similar to that of the Great Hall in Hogwarts, but staff sat with the house they were attached to. The headmaster, apparently, switched tables every day. Professor Stix sat with the Topazes, Madam Viarra with the Diamonds, Professor Featherpea was with the Amethysts. There were other professors here and there, but Hermione did not know any of them.

"I'm Muggle-born." Hermione said, finally, after having told Phoebe and Will and those around her about herself.

She did not hear the expected gasp of horror that a Muggle-born had been sorted into Emerald, as she would have definitely heard should it have happened with the Slytherins. Instead, they all nodded and waited expectantly.

"What else do you want to know?" Hermione asked.

"Why did you change schools? I mean, this is Hogwarts we're talking about! I absolutely adore it here, but from what I've heard, it's amazing! The best teachers, a Quidditch pitch, _Harry Potter_!" Will asked.

"Yes… it was a great place." Hermione said, feeling tears prick her eyes again.

People noticed the change in her and left her, not wanting to force Hermione into talking about something that obviously made her feel uncomfortable. Only Phoebe and Will were left, still eating. Will had habits just like Ron, speaking while his mouth was full, but Phoebe seemed to border on the other extreme.

"Wy ju nuh wann hoo fay—"

"William Fortescue! I demand that you finish chewing before you try to speak again, or else." Phoebe threatened, playing with her wand.

Will swallowed his large mouthful, but gagged, and sputtered. After a lot of attempts, he managed to get the food down before continuing, wary of Phoebe's narrowed eyes and left hand, which seemed to be twirling her rather sharp ended fork.

"Why don't you want to speak about Hogwarts?" Will asked.

"No subtlety what-so-ever." Phoebe said to herself, before stabbing her food, since her original victim was no longer requiring punishment.

"It's not that I don't like Hogwarts. I've always loved it. The castle, the lake, the grounds… The air is so fresh and cool and the castle is so huge and exciting! Every corridor filled with paintings, suits of armour that moved, ghosts that milled about… even Peeves is great, although a bit annoying at times. He's a Poltergeist."

Phoebe nodded.

"What about the people?" Will asked.

Hermione froze. Her hand was trembling and the fork was about an inch away from the plate. After a few moments, she sighed and put down her fork and knife. She would not be able to escape them forever, but she had hoped that she would not have to tell them.

"You d—" Phoebe began.

"Were they horrible? I mean… you're looking a little pale." Will interrupted.

"No… they were… they were… I don't know what to say really. I was all alone at first. Nobody liked me because I was too bossy, or just a Gryffindor Know-It-All."

"You were a Gryffindor! Merlin's Beard! You must have known Harry Potter!" Will said excitedly.

"Harry and Ron saved me in our first year." Hermione said grimly. "We always stuck together. Best of friends. The Golden Trio. The bane of Snape's existence."

Hermione sighed and picked up her fork before swirling the mashed potatoes round and round.

"I redefined my priorities. Things were going so well." Hermione could not stop the memories coming and a tear fell. "And then… I never did anything of the sort! But what was one girl's word against three teachers' accusation? Especially when it was Albus Dumbledore, the _omniscient_, _kind_, _gentle_, _understanding_ headmaster, who would have believed my word over his? Of course, there was no solid proof, but the damage was done. Ever since then, Harry and Ron have turned a blind eye to everything that has been happening to me. Nobody came to help me. Professor Snape had actually come across me, half-dead, surrounded by the those people, and then—and then—"

Hermione gave a quiet sob and buried her face in her hands. She felt arms around her shoulders, and was startled to find Will and Phoebe enveloping her in a large bear hug. Phoebe held out a tissue, which was gratefully accepted, and Hermione wiped away her tears.

"I'm sorry. It's just that… I would have stuck by them through thick and thin, and they had ditched me without a second thought."

"Ah well, so maybe Harry Potter isn't so great after all. Say! Aren't you the one who that reporter—Rita Skeeter! That's it! That woman wrote an article about how you were dating Harry Potter and you ditched him for Viktor Krum!" Will said excitedly.

Hermione let out another sob.

"We were never dating – Harry, Ron and I were friends, nothing more. Viktor Krum is only a friend as well, all that rubbish was just that Skeeter woman up to no good." Suddenly, a smile flashed across Hermione's face. "but I sorted her out in the end."

"What did you do to her?" Will's eyes sparkled with curiosity.

"Oh, it's a secret, but it got her out of my hair." Hermione smirked.

"'Atta girl!" Will said.

"The people there aren't bad at all, really, it was just… most of them thought that I had betrayed Harry to Lord Vol—"

"You-Know-Who." Phoebe interrupted, eyes darting left and right.

"It's only a name. Fear of a name only increases fear for the thing itself." Hermione's smile faded. "That was one of the things Professor Dumbledore taught us."

"They thought you betrayed him to _Him_? What a bunch of idiots!" Will scoffed.

"They have a right to be angry though, they all thought that I had tricked Harry for years. And the fact that the Ravenclaws were jealous that a Gryffindor did better than they did in OWLs just fed the fire. The Slytherins just hate me full-stop. So… I left. I ran away, like a coward that I am, instead of standing up to them. I never got a chance to defend myself in Professor Dumbledore's office. They said that they had no evidence that I was a Death Eater, but their voices were enough to convince me that they believed me to be one." Hermione's voice cracked again.

"Come on, classes will cheer you up. I saw that you managed to stay awake through Charms. Your eyes were positively sparkling with joy." Phoebe said, wrenching Hermione and Will from their seats and dragging them out of the hall.


	4. Strange Happenings

Potions was taught by a very stern-faced man called Professor Shepherd. He seemed to be about the same age as the headmaster, about fifty years old or more. He was strict and, although not as terrifying or as mean as Snape, quite intimidating. There was utter silence in the classroom as everyone worked. Arithmancy was taught by Professor How and Herbology, out in the Greenhouses, by Professor Yolk. Both were kind and patient, but Professor How was a bit mad in the head. He seemed delighted to have a fifth person in his class.

Phoebe returned home for the Easter holidays, but Will stayed. And over the next few weeks, even without seeing Phoebe, or vice versa, all three got to know one another better. Phoebe and Will were not very close before, but since they were both friends of Hermione, they made an effort to get along. Phoebe's owls were written in very elegant and flourishing calligraphy, and Hermione very nearly went to frame it in the nearby town. Will needed help translating his.

Hermione grew accustomed to the new school, and soon, she was happily living amongst people who did not care whether she was a friend or an enemy of Harry Potter, as long as she had a nice character (and lent people notes from Charms). Sixth-year and seventh-year students were allowed to go out any time during the holidays, within curfew and with permission, to the nearby Wizarding town called Phinxmere. There were very few things there to see, but Hermione was satisfied to stroll through the rather large bookstore for a few hours. They went in fairly large groups and in a mixture of houses. Nobody cared what house you belonged in, until it came to the Coral Cup, which was named after the first Head Boy at Phinxgild, where apparently, people became very fierce and competitive. They were allowed to wear home-clothes on weekends, but, even during the holidays, they had to wear school robes.

"What is the point of buying uniform if you don't use it for a quarter of the year! No, no, money must not be wasted." The headmaster had said benevolently.

The holidays passed joyfully. Hermione received an owl from her parents, saying that they were still at the conference in America. Although Hermione missed them, she was glad they were out of harm's way, at least, for now.

The Summer term came, and Hermione had to catch up with a mountain of work that she had missed for the first half of the year. At Hogwarts, they covered a different part of the curriculum first, so Hermione had to spend every waking moment working, working, working.

"Why are you doing this, Hermione? You are allowed to skip these exams! So lucky!" Will groaned.

Hermione chucked a pillow at him, and it hit him square in the face and he fell of his chair. Phoebe giggled, but feigned innocence when Will glared at her. Hermione was sniggering non-stop under her breath.

Soon, the exams were over. Hermione managed to get very high marks, but not as high as she would have done if she had continued at Hogwarts or came a little earlier in the academic year. She was slightly disappointed, but this only merited a very obvious eye-rolling from Will.

A few days before the end of term, the news came. On the front page of the Daily Prophet was a large photograph of a smouldering ruin with the Dark Mark hovering above it.

_At 3 o'clock this morning, an army of a hundred Death Eaters descended upon this School of Wizardry, killing and injuring many and capturing no less than thirty girls. None of the staff survived, but they had put up a good fight. The Aurors arrived to see the headmaster of Schola Magia, the last of the members of staff, fall. A few Death Eaters have been captured and are awaiting trial._

_See more on page 5._

A miserable atmosphere hung over the school. Everyone peered out of windows every time they passed one, half expecting an attack. There were only three institutions of Magic in England. The most famous being Hogwarts, and then Phinxgild, and, the least well-known, was Schola Magia. Even the teachers seemed to be on edge.

However, the Summer holidays provided everyone with a relieving escape from the school. Hermione returned home with promises to communicate via owls. However, she did not get a lot of time off, before she was whisked off, by her parents, to Spain for the first half of the holidays and for the second half, she spent peacefully at home. She was beginning to recover from what had happened, and she could think about Hogwarts without feeling the need to cry. However, she still could not bear to talk about Harry or Ron to anyone, or Snape, for that matter.

As promised, all three kept in contact, and grew closer as the bonds of friendship became stronger. When they met again, in school, they were overjoyed.

The school was within a half hour drive, by car, from a train station in a small Muggle town. It was nothing as exciting to travel there as Hogwarts, but it was refreshing to be able to delay saying good bye to one's parents till the very last minute.

The first term was tough. All the teachers were now going at full speed, trying to hammer NEWT syllabuses into everyone's heads. While everyone struggled, Hermione was able to have a breather. She had covered a lot of the stuff during her sixth year, but this did not mean that she sat back and did nothing. She reviewed her Hogwarts notes and added to it, altered it, wrote the essays, practised the spells just as everyone else did.

It was well into November when Hermione received post at the dinner table. Her parents hardly ever sent owls, and she had only just received a letter from them the day before, so the strange letter piqued her interest. Will and Phoebe leant over her shoulder to read the letter as well.

_Dear Hermione,_

_I don't know whether you'll continue reading this or whether you would just burn it straight away, but… I've thought it over (I know it's taken ages), but I've decided that I don't believe that you betrayed us at all. I think Harry thinks the same, but he doesn't want to think that Dumbledore's made another mistake. Harry relies a lot on him. I hope you're alright. People around here treated you really badly before you left, I wish I hadn't been such an idiot to sit around and let it happen. I don't know whether you would ever forgive me, but I'm asking for it now._

_I have to keep this short, because if anyone discovers that I'm writing to you… well, let's just say I'd be in a spot of trouble. I'm writing because I've heard things. Dumbledore thinks that there'll be an attack on your school soon, I'm wanted to warn you. You know what adults are like – they never tell anyone anything!_

_Another thing is… I've been worried about Harry. Harry's been worried as well, even if he won't admit it. Weird things have been happening to him. Somebody's been doing stuff. I mean, just the other day, somebody put belladonna into Harry's potion. We were supposed to be testing them on ourselves. Luckily, Snape had smelt that something was off (with his lovely gigantic nose) and tested it on a mouse first. Died within two seconds. Snape thinks that Harry did it himself and took thirty points, but it could have been anyone! We had to leave our Potions behind, go to lunch, and then go back afterwards to finish it off. It could have even been a first-year!_

_And then, Harry's been feeling eyes on him in the hallways, so have I, but only when I'm with him. Somebody's continually following us, and the problem is… Harry's map's been stolen! So we can't see who it is. We both wish that we had you around to help us out. It may sound selfish, and I do want you back regardless of whether there's something wrong or not with Harry. But the potion thing isn't the only thing that's been happening to Harry. Somebody put an exploding hex on his pillow, he keeled over in the dining hall just yesterday because someone managed to poison his plate! Something weird's going on. _

_Don't write back. Can we talk to you at between Midnight and one o'clock on Thursday? Through the fire. _

_I hope you're doing alright._

_Ron_

"I don't know about you, but that was quite…" Phoebe started, letting her eyes slide over to study Hermione's expression.

"Hah! Begging for your help! Hermione deserves more than an apology written on paper." Will interrupted.

Hermione was shocked. She felt annoyed that it took them so long to actually rediscover their friendship and trust, but she realised after re-reading the post, that they had never directly accused her, accosted her, or hurt her. They had wanted to trust her, but to trust her meant that they had to face the fact that Dumbledore was wrong again, and with the war on the doorstep, Harry really did not need that.

At once, relief washed over her and Hermione felt overjoyed.

"They want to talk to me again. Oh this is great!"

Phoebe and Will exchanged a very familiar look, both thinking: 'Nutter'.

It seemed as though time was put in extra-slow motion. Never in her life had time passed by so slowly! But, Thursday night came, and, as she had been asked to, she took out some (stolen) floo powder and threw it in the fire, before she stuck her head in and whispered:

"Hogwarts, Gryffindor Common Room."

There was a whirl of colours until she could see into the common room. It was empty save for a few seventh-years here and there. Ron and Harry were playing Wizard's Chess. Hermione pulled out of the fire and waited a while before trying again. This time, there were fewer people, but Hermione pulled out again, and gave them another half an hour, before she made her next attempt. Finally, only Ron and Harry were left. Hermione hissed at them, making them jump six feet into the air, before going towards her.

"Hey. How are you doing?" Harry asked solemnly.

"I'm doing really well. I miss you two loads. It's weird though, I'm in the equivalent of Slytherin over here. Everyone's really nice, they're—ow!"

"Oh, sorry, Hermione! I didn't mean to sit on your hand."

"It's alright, Phoebe." Hermione took a deep breath. "Harry, Ron, this is Phoebe Longscoombe to my right, and this is Will Fortescue. Will, Phoebe, Harry Potter and Ron Weasley."

There was an awkward moment of nodding and finally, Will couldn't contain himself.

"I can't believe you're Harry Potter!" He burst out.

Everyone began to laugh. At least it relieved the tension.

"We're all in Emerald. Anyway, Phoebe, Will, can I speak to my friends now?" Hermione said, hinting that she wanted privacy.

"Sure." Phoebe pulled out.

Then, Will was audibly being dragged away, and Hermione could hear him saying that he wanted to stay behind. Finally, they were alone.

"Sorry about that. How are you guys? I received your l—"

Harry and Ron both held their fingers to their lips and sat with their backs to the fire. The door to the dormitories opened, and, although Hermione could not see, she listened.

"What are you two doing there?" Ginny's voice said.

"We were uh—cold, so we decided to chat over here instead." Ron said

"Oh… what were you talking about?" Ginny asked.

"Um… nothing that you'd want to listen to."

"Is it Order stuff?" Ginny's voice sounded excited.

Hermione frowned, that sounded more than just childish excitement.

"No, we were... talking about—" Ron looked over at Harry for help.

"girls, which ones we like. It's a bit… private." Harry said.

"Oh… well, good night then." Giiny said, obviously disappointed, the door shut.

Harry and Ron waited until the footsteps had faded away before going to make sure. Then, they returned, having found no bugging device, Hermione had to remind Harry, once again, that electrical appliances cannot work in Hogwarts, or any eavesdropping things lying about. They grinned at her, glad that Hermione had not changed too much, but both their faces dropped when they realised why they had summoned Hermione.

"You're in Slytherin!" Ron said in disbelief.

"Emerald, Ronald." Hermione giggled, before continuing with a fake haughty air. "There's a difference."

"Whatever." Ron said, rolling his eyes.

"So, what's up?" Hermione asked.

"We need your help." Harry sighed.

"Well, you didn't seem to want anything to do with me last time. Nor did you help me." Hermione snapped.

"We're sorry. We both really are." Harry said, green eyes glittering with guilt.

Hermione glared at them for a long time, and the tension mounted.

"Please, Hermione... if it makes you feel any better, Harry was the one who brought you up to the Hospital Wing that time... Please? We're really sorry. We're rotten um..." He struggled to think of a non-vulgar word to describe himself and Harry.

Hermione's anger melted (very slowly). After a while she sighed in resignation. How could she continue being mad with those sad, puppy dog eyes that they were both using at her. She scowled at them, knowing that they were doing it on purpose.

"All right. Don't feel guilty over me. Just, next time… help me out." she said.

"We will." Harry said.

"We promise." Ron added.

They grinned at each other. Hermione scowled again. They really were insufferable. That thought reminded her of Snape and shook her head clear, and ploughed on.

"Okay, spill."

"It started at the beginning of this term. I began feeling someone watching me, all the time, and Ron did as well, whenever we were together in the corridors, alone." Harry explained.

"Ginny said she never noticed a thing." Ron interrupted.

"Well, Ginny's been acting really strange. She's been slandering your name, Hermione, and she overdoes it, in my opinion." It was obvious Harry was trying not to hurt Ron's feelings. "not that anyone ever cares. Everyone still says random stuff about you."

"Yeah… She's been really nasty. I mean, you never did anything directly to her, me or Harry, and you've had plenty of opportunities. And now that you're gone, we start having problems." Ron joined in.

"One month after you left, I woke up in the middle of the night, and decided to open the window, because it felt really hot. And I was just returning to bed when my pillow literally exploded. Everyone woke up. Of course, I got Professor McGonagall immediately. She said that I was lucky to be alive. Then, the week after that, on the way to dinner, I had been waiting for the stairs when somebody pushed me from behind, and I fell over the edge. Luckily, Professor Flitwick happened to be nearby and used a charm to float me safely to the ground. It was a horrible feeling though." Harry shuddered.

"And the worst thing was, I knew it was someone under an invisibility cloak, because the only other people there were Neville and Ginny. And so, I immediately wanted to have my map on me, because I thought it was Malfoy doing all this stuff, but I couldn't find it! And you both know I always put it under my pillow at night." Harry was getting quite upset.

"In the first Hogsmeade weekend of this year, I was with Ron and Ginny, and we were just talking. I bent down to tie my shoe, and I heard a twang, and, where my head should have been, was a long metal arrow, and it was stuck in the bark of the pine tree just next to where I was. After that, in the first Quidditch match of the season, the bludgers were, once more, jinxed and they followed me non-stop, trying to knock me off my broom. Dobby wasn't the culprit this time." He sighed. "I was up on the Astronomy Tower one night, and someone tried to push me off the edge, but I grabbed their arm, and that's when I knew that my assassin was a girl."

"A girl?" Hermione asked.

"Yes. Her hand was too delicate to be a boy's and her nails had blood-red nail varnish on. She snatched her arm away and disappeared. You've heard from Ron about the Potions thing and me getting poisoned. I've been saved twice by Professor Snape so far, in less than two weeks! And then, today, that girl, I assume, jinxed some darts and tried to make me a dartboard over lunch! One of these days I really am going to snuff it!" Harry said angrily.

Hermione thought for a moment. Ron and Harry both saw her furrowing her eyebrows and fell silent.

"Harry, when you get back to your dormitory, has your invisibility cloak been moved?" Hermione asked.

"Merlin's Beard!" the colour in Harry's face drained out. "I never checked. Hang on!"

Harry disappeared through the door, returning, a few minutes later, with the cloak.

"It's definitely different. I, for one, never bother folding it so neatly. Do you think that someone's been using my invisibility cloak? Won't that mean—"

"The person is a Gryffindor." Ron finished in a squeak that resembled Madam Viarra's.


	5. Doomsday?

"Harry, I'll keep the cloak for you."

"But—" "Hermione!" they both started at the same time.

"Look! You're life's obviously in danger, so you must _not_ go running about the castle when there isn't anyone around, so what's the use of an invisibility cloak if the person who's after your life has the Marauder's Map?" Hermione reprimanded Harry.

Harry's face fell.

"That's probably how they found out I was on the Astronomy Tower." Harry said glumly.

"If they lose the cloak, then they'll be slightly crippled, right? And they'll have to really plan things out to avoid being caught, and that's easier to slip up on. Because planning a murder or assassination is a lot harder than it seems."

"Thanks for making me feel better." Harry said dryly.

"I wasn't trying to, but you're welcome. Continuing: Make sure that you smell your plate before you start putting stuff on it. The more common poisons have a distinct smell when they are placed on metal. And, when you eat, make sure Professor Snape or Professor Dumbledore is nearby. Don't go anywhere without Ron, unless you have to, and make sure you are _never _alone. You know which spells to use to identify whether there is a jinx on an object, cast that on everything – your clothes, books, bag, pillow. It's unlikely they'll strike in the same way again, but it's better to be cautious. If I think of anything, I'll be in contact. Don't worry, I'll write in Phoebe's name and use her owl. She won't mind." Hermione said.

"Hey, Hermione. Do be careful. If anything should happen at your school, don't hesitate to use the cloak." Harry said.

They all said their goodbyes sounding very choked, but Hermione did not realise that they had talked over an hour. So, she went straight to bed, feeling content.

That weekend, Hermione went to town with Will, Phoebe, Helen, and Melissa, and she bought three small, spherical crystals. They were about the diameter of one inch. Then, once in the privacy of her room, she cast a number of spells on the crystals. Then she went and tested both on Phoebe and Will, before writing to Ron on the Tuesday afterwards.

Tuesday night, Hermione was once again speaking to them in the fire.

"Okay, put them on now."

"What is this?" Ron said, pointing at the crystal.

"These are for your protection. If anyone with malevolent intentions towards you is nearby, then it will warm up. It also draws positive energy from around you, and feeds it to you when you need it, so that you will always be alert and prepared to strike or defend yourselves. And, if I need to talk to you, or you to me, just tap the crystal three times and say Ron's name, or my name, or Harry's name, and we'll feel exactly what you are feeling for a couple of seconds."

"So, if I'm absolutely terrified, would you be as well?" Ron said.

"If you tap the crystal three times and say my name. If you want to meet up, just make yourself feel extremely happy when you tap the crystal."

"How do we do that?" Ron asked.

"Cheering charm." Harry answered.

"Correct." Hermione said. "Has anything else happened?"

"No, it's been quite quiet." Ron said shaking his head.

"Too quiet." Harry muttered.

"Let's hope that we get the person before you leave Hogwarts." Hermione said anxiously.

"Why?" Both of them asked at once.

"At least in Hogwarts you'll have Professor Dumbledore around. Outside…"

The conversation ended soon after that.

As the days continued to pass, the students of Phinxgild began to feel more relaxed and less tense in anticipation of an attack that has not occurred, yet. However, there was a small trio of students who were exactly the opposite. Hermione had warned Phoebe and Will immediately after the last conversation she had with Harry and Ron that there would be an attack on Phinxgild. So they became more and more tense and worried. Hermione lost her temper very easily and Phoebe even walked out of class once. Professor Faleys was showing signs of stress too.

Finally, the Christmas holidays were approaching. Hermione assumed that Voldemort would want to attack when the school is in full swing, and would not attack during the holidays, and she began to relax and get into the Christmas mood.

One evening, at about eleven o'clock, Hermione, Will and Phoebe were taking a stroll on the grounds, ignoring the fact that it was after curfew. They were talking about the war. Suddenly, Hermione felt her crystal heat up a lot. Her eyes widened when she realised what this meant.

"Phoebe, Will! Run!" Hermione said.

Seeing her terrified face, they sprinted back to the school. Hermione dared a glance over her shoulder and her blood ran cold. Coming through the ruined gates of the school were people dressed in black cloaks and silver masks. It was very dark, but the moonlight reflected off the masks, enabling the three students to see them. Fortunately, it was too dark for Hermione and her friends to be seen by the Death Eaters, and they reached the door safely. The locked and bolted the door, before leaning against it. Hermione took action.

"Phoebe, Will, I'm not Head Girl, but I've been in this situation before. Is there any safe way out of the school?" Hermione asked.

"We could floo them." Phoebe suggested.

"There's a tunnel, behind the tapestry of Greagin the Goblin and the Greedy Ghouls. It leads to Phinxmere, but it's really narrow, you can only go through it in single file." Will said.

Hermione took off her mother's necklace and her hair clip. This was the difficult part. Making a portkey seems easy, but you need to be able to focus on the location and its surroundings much more than if you were apparating and you have to trigger it. Hermione frowned and concentrated.

"_Portus_." She said.

She repeated the spell for the other object and gave one to each of them.

"If you can't floo everyone out, get them through the tunnel. Make sure that they remain calm and listen to you. I've appointed you the leaders. If you can't floo, get everyone to hold hands and tap the portkey three times. You will be taken directly to Hogwarts."

"What about you?" Will asked.

"I have to find out who betrayed me." Hermione said resolutely.

"There are over one hundred Death Eaters out there!" Phoebe exclaimed

"All the more reason that you should hurry. Will, you take the Topazes and the Amethysts. Phoebe, you take the Emeralds and Diamonds. If they question you, tell them that they can stay behind and face the Death Eaters if they would prefer. Threaten them, frighten them, just get everyone out – of – here. Don't make too much noise. Phoebe, can you grab the invisibility cloak on your way out and give it back to Harry for me?" Hermione said.

Phoebe nodded and left.

"You will come right?" Will asked, worry in his eyes.

"If I'm not in Hogwarts by tomorrow morning… assume that I'm no longer alive." Hermione said solemnly.

She was wrapped in a huge hug, and then, as quick as a flash, he disappeared. Hermione set about to work. She warded the doors with complicated spells, layer after layer, and then used her wand to write several runes on the walls. She could not remember all of them, but she could remember the ones that she needed. Two on the top, two on the floor, two on either side of the doors.

Then Hermione said a spell and held her wand high in the air. Suddenly, a loud, screeching noise was emitted from her wand, and it pulsed through the school, waking everyone from their beds. As time passed, the noise grew louder and louder, until she finished the spell.

The teachers appeared to investigate, all very ill-dressed for the occasion – they were all in their night clothes. Had it been under other circumstances, Hermione would definitely have burst out laughing. Instead, she told them the grim news.

"Death Eaters are almost at the doors. Phoebe and Will are taking the students to safety."

"You must go as well, Miss Granger. Your help has been much appreciated." Professor Faleys said.

All the teachers held out their wands and approached the door, but Hermione intercepted them.

"The doors have been heavily warded. As long as the Death Eaters don't know that they can cast spells through the runes, we will be able to buy the others some more time. I'm not going anywhere, Professor, I want to know who betrayed me, and that person will be here. I know it." Hermione said.

Madam Viarra sighed.

"You will be killed. All of us will be killed before sunrise." She said quietly.

"_Accio _owl." Hermione said.

A few seconds later, a ball of feathers came shooting through the air and into Hermione's hands she summoned another owl and took a piece of parchment and a quill from her pocket. All the professors were looking at her in shock. Hermione tied the parchment to the leg of the owl, just as the next owl crashed into her chest. Both owls left, hooting angrily at Hermione and flew away. She turned back to her professors.

"You never know when things may come in useful." She said, answering their looks of inquiry. "One owl is going to the Ministry, telling them that we are under attack. The other owl is going to Dumbledore. I just hope they won't be too late."

Their was a sound of an explosion and yelling from the other side of the door. Hermione smirked.

"I guess they thought that this was going to be easy."

"What did you do to the door?" Professor Featherpea asked curiously.

"Oh I cast a spell on it so that whoever touched it would, one, burst into flames, two, be thrown backwards with a large force, three, lose consciousness." Bang. "After a while, they'll realise that as long as they destroy the door, those things would not happen to them anymore." Another bang sounded. "But, when they try to destroy the door—"

Just then, an even larger exploding noise sounded. There was a lot of rude words drifting through the windows and Hermione smirked again.

"using spells, the door would only reflect those spells back, and whoever cast the spell would not only suffer the effects of whatever curse they had use, they will also be stunned. So, if they can't use magic, and they can't use their hands, they are going to be a little stuck until they realise how they can actually get in."

"Through the windows?" Professor Stix asked.

"Oh no, they'd be very vulnerable. They know that there is someone in here, and they would have to enter one by one through the windows. They would drop like flies. No, they need to use Muggle methods, and that's why it'll take them a long time to figure out, and a very long time to put it into action."

"What methods?" Professor Denvil, the Muggle Studies professor, asked.

"They could use an axe. A completely metallic axe can't be set on fire, can't be stunned, and even if it is thrown back, if they have about four people hacking, they would be able to get through in no time. Hopefully, he Aurors will arrive during that time."

"Thank you, Miss Granger, your quick thinking may have saved us all." Professor Faleys said.

Hermione did not blush as she would have before she left Hogwarts, but she smiled and thanked him for his compliment.

"It's the least I can do. I've fought these people before, and I'll do it again."

Another five minutes passed before loud thudding noises began. They had figured it out. At first, the thudding was slow and hesitant, but after a while, it was going very quickly, and with a lot of force. Little by little, the wood of the door began to splinter and break off, and finally a large part of the double-doors was hacked away, large enough for five people to enter at once. However, the first person that stepped into the hall suddenly convulsed. His companions looked at him or her in fear. Suddenly, the person was thrown backwards into the crowd behind him, knocking at least five Death Eaters unconscious. The front four Death Eaters snarled.

"That is my very last trick. The runes will electrocute anyone who wishes to enter or exit and throw them backwards." Hermione whispered.

"A very neat trick." One of the Death Eaters said.

The voice rung bells in Hermione's head, and she snarled.

"Malfoy."

"Miss Granger! What a surprise! Draco informed me of your sudden departure from Hogwarts. A pity… Nonetheless, it has kept our spy out of harm's way. Now, how to get past these runes?"

The runes she had drawn were now glowing in the wall. Lucius Malfoy approached one and inspected it. He looked up at Hermione and smirked.

"I am not an expert at ruins, but I have a feeling that this will work. _Scourgify!_"

The rune faded and disappeared. Smirking, he stepped forwards, but he too was electrocuted and thrown back. Hermione smiled.

"You've underestimated me again." She said.

She was beginning to panic. If they rubbed out all of the images, they would be able to get through. Why wasn't anyone coming to help? Twelve teachers plus one student against one hundred Death Eaters – they were doomed. She tapped the crystal three times and said Harry and Ron's names, hoping that they would sense her fear and dread.

The other two left at the front nodded to one another and rubbed out the runes one by one. Hermione began to tremble. All the teachers drew out their wands and nodded to one another, as though saying good luck. They were all indeed doomed.


	6. Attack and EscapeII

While Hermione was setting up the school's defences, Phoebe and Will went about assembling the students. Phoebe had run straight to Diamond, the furthest one, and just as she arrived, she heard a soft, but eerie noise. She ignored the sound and said the password. The portrait swung open and allowed her entry. Phoebe was Head Girl, and so knew all the passwords, Will was just scary and somehow knew all the passwords without being Head Boy. The students were panicking in the common room and it took a very long time before Phoebe managed to get their attention. To her dismay, the school no longer seemed to be connected to the floo network. The screeching noise made it difficult to calm everyone down and it was difficult to speak over the noise.

"Listen to me! I have been appointed to lead you from school, to safety. If you run off, you are very likely to – be – killed. If you are not silent, you will get all of us killed. I cannot lead you to where I want to take you, since I need to get the Emeralds out as well."

"Why should we listen to you?" Someone yelled.

"Mr. Phyllis, if you would prefer to stay behind, or even better, wander off, be my guest, perhaps you will do a better job at holding off one hundred Death Eaters than a handful of experienced teachers can." Phoebe said menacingly.

He fell silent.

"Robert! Yes, you. You know the way to Greagin Goblin and the Greedy Ghouls' tapestry is. Wait for either me, or William Fortescue. Everyone, follow Robert in single file, without fuss. You will get out of here safely, I promise you. Go!"

The students disappeared, silently, to Phoebe's surprise – she must have frightened them fairly badly. Phoebe ignored this and ran back to Emerald. It takes ten minutes to get from the entrance to Diamond Tower, and another five from Diamond to Emerald. The tapestry was a closer to the Diamonds, which was why Phoebe had been so sure that they would be safe. The screeching had stopped. When she entered the common room, it was chaos. Everyone was in a state of panic.

"WILL EVERYONE SHUT UP!" She yelled with a sonorus spell.

The students fell silent and froze.

"You are to be silent, and youwill follow me in single file. If you make any noise, panic and try to overtake the person in front of you, you will get all of us killed. There are Death Eaters at the door. People are trying very hard to buy us some time to escape, so if you do not remain silent, or disobey my orders, I assure you, the Death Eaters will sense our presence and eliminate us. Now, single file."

Phoebe led them from the common room, but what she heard nearly made her want to panic. There were sounds of explosions from the Entrance hall. She jogged and led the students past Diamond tower, down a few corridors and was glad when she saw Will directing his lot of students through a large, rectangular shaped hole in the wall. He was holding the tapestry to one side. It seemed that he decided to bring everyone at once, and everyone was fighting to be first. So Phoebe went and somehow managed to threaten them into submissiveness and the struggling stopped. After another five minutes, his group was finally done. Phoebe then stepped to the side.

"First years!"

The first year students stumbled forwards and stumbled through the little hole behind the tapestry. Then the second years, then the third, then the fourth, then the fifth, then the sixth, and finally the seventh years, but she caught the wrist of the last one and said to them:

"This is a portkey. You are to separate everyone into Will's group and my group. Will's group have their portkey, and they are to portkey away first. Wait another fifteen minutes before you tap this clip three times with your wand. If Death Eaters begin to appear, make sure everyone is holding hands and you are in contact with them before you activate the portkey. I'm counting on you."

The boy nodded before disappearing through the whole. Will let the tapestry fall.

"Why aren't we going in after them?" He asked.

Phoebe grabbed his wrist and yanked him after her as she sprinted through the corridor. She could hear spells being said now, and she began sweating. They arrived at Emerald Tower and barrelled into the common room. Phoebe dashed upstairs and grabbed the invisibility cloak before running down again.

"I forgot this." She said, panting.

"Forgot? Or do you mean you want to use it and help them out?" Will said.

Phoebe smiled.

"I never thought anything of the sort." She said in a playful tone.

Will snorted and they hid themselves under the cloak and made for the main entrance. They were approaching it when they froze in horror. Seven of the teachers were dead, but Hermione, Professor Faleys, Professor Shepherd, Professor Denvil, Madam Viarra and Professor Featherpea were still fighting, but losing. The Death Eaters were pushing them back. Will and Phoebe drew out their wands and went to Hermione's aid, stunning the Death Eaters. Hermione noticed this and looked in their direction.

"Run! You idiots! I need you to keep the others safe! Get out of here! Aurors are coming, just get away from here!"

"What about—" Will started.

"Stop worrying about me, for Merlin's sake! Go!"

With huge regret, Will and Phoebe ducked stray curses and ran back to the tapestry. They were aware of footsteps behind them, and they sprinted harder. Unfortunately, Phoebe dropped the cloak, and she turned around to get it. Just then, Death Eaters appeared, but from behind Phoebe, Will began to send out spells and hexes, and the Death Eaters were caught by surprise. Phoebe put the cloak on once more and began stunning and hexing them as well, although hers were not as effective as Will's. Finally, Phoebe made it to Will's side and covered him with the cloak and they disappeared. They made it to the tapestry without being seen and they hurried, one behind the other, to the other end. It was a five minute walk, but they made it just before Phoebe's group portkeyed away.

"Wait!" Will said as he grabbed the hand of the nearest student.

Phoebe did the same, and then nodded at the boy with the hair clip as he tapped it three times. There was a jerk and they were flung far away. They all collapsed in a heap, and there were sounds of crying and whimpering. They found themselves next to a large forest and there was a lake behind them. They all saw the castle and a large hut and everyone ran forwards.

"Stay calm! We don't need to run! We're safe! We're at Hogwarts!" Phoebe yelled.

The ruckus died down slightly and people began to smile. They walked slowly, by the hut, and up the hill, until they made it to the front door of the castle. People were cheering by now, besides the fact it was freezing cold, dark, and they were in a place they had never even seen before.

"Where are the others?" Somebody asked.

Will and Phoebe were thinking the same thing, but Will had not time to answer. It swung open, and a stern looking woman, stepped out. Her face broke into a smile of relief.

"Oh good, you made it. Now who can explain what is going on? The other group of children mentioned someone called William Fortescue. Can you step out?"

"And Phoebe! Phoebe was the one who got _us_ out of that place!" Someone yelled.

Phoebe and Will stepped forwards, and the older woman smiled and nodded at them.

"Everyone, follow me, we will get you to the infirmary."

And then, they were led in a series of passages, up flights of moving stairs and past moving suits of armour and wandering ghosts. There were a few gasps of delight and 'ooh's and 'ah's. After a long walk, they made it into a large, room, filled with beds, but the room was almost filled to the brim with people. Different people rushed forwards to meet their friends from other houses, and there was a lot of hugging and tears. Finally, Phoebe and Will were motioned towards the door by the Professor and they followed her through another series of twisting passages and moving staircases, until they reached a stone gargoyle.

"Bertie Bott's" The woman said.

The gargoyle sprang to life and a staircase appeared. They stepped in and the stairs twisted round and round until they reached the top, and stepped into a magnificent office. Phoebe and Will were still overwhelmed by how fantastic the building was that even Dumbledore's office was not able to take their breaths away. When they caught sight of the famous Albus Dumbledore, they gaped. He smiled at them and offered them a seat. They accepted, and sat down.

"Welcome, children, now your names are…?" He asked, eyes twinkling.

They felt a trustworthiness air diffusing from the tall, commanding figure, but given what he had done to Hermione, they proceeded with caution.

"I'm William Fortescue, and this is Phoebe Longscoombe."

"Now, can you explain exactly what happened?" he said.

"Well, Hermione – that's Hermione Granger... by the way, just so you knowshe isn't a Death Eater" Will said smugly. "Hermione, Phoebe and I were taking a walk… after curfew… when Hermione suddenly froze and told us to get back to the castle. When we looked back, we could see Death Eaters at the gates. When we got in, we locked the doors and she immediately took charge of the situation, and gave us instructions on how to evacuate the students. She stayed behind."

Between the two of them, they quickly explained the situation to Dumbledore.

Suddenly, there was tapping on the window, and a severely injured owl flew into the room, dropping a piece of parchment on the desk before falling dead to the ground. Dumbledore read the message and grabbed hold of Fawkes' leg.

"Minerva, notify the Ministry, I fear that the other owl may not have made it. I will go and do what I can to help. We may be too late." Dumbledore said, before he vanished.

Will and Phoebe were so busy gaping at his disappearance that they did not notice that the woman had taken a pinch of floo powder and was talking to the Minister of Magic. When they finally realised, she had finished the conversation and was now facing them, her face drawn and tears in her eyes.

"I am very afraid that we have made a terrible mistake." She said in a tight voice.

Phoebe and Will leaned forwards subconsciously to listen.

"You see, we received reports last year, around this time, that Miss Granger was no longer a loyal follower of the Light. We did not believe it, but report came in after report, and finally, we could no longer deny it. Miss Granger had betrayed us. So, just after the Christmas holidays, we summoned Miss Granger, Mr. Potter, Mr. Weasley and Miss Weasley, and we wanted to see her reaction. It was completely different to what we had expected, I must confess, but we had been very harsh. Her friends turned against her, and the most horrific things were done to her by other students. I am ashamed to say that I had not intervened, for… I thought—I thought that she deserved it. Severus had returned, the night he was betrayed, bloody, beaten, and near-death. I thought that… she should suffer what she made him suffer. I am very ashamed of my actions."

The woman wiped away the first of her tears.

"It was dreadful, every day, Miss Granger would be sent to the Hospital Wing, needing very serious treatment. Everyone in the school was attacking her, and those who were not, were too afraid to help her. But Miss Granger refused to give us names, saying that it was not their fault that they were doing these things, but hers. She never trusted us ever again. Now… now that we know that she has been fighting for her life, standing by her teachers and defending the school, rather than running to safety, we know that…" The woman trailed off and swallowed. "Hermione is a true Gryffindor and had never betrayed us."

"You're wrong." Will said.

The woman looked down at him in surprise.

"She is not a Gryffindor anymore." He continued.

"She's been a Slytherin for almost a whole year now." Phoebe finished.

"Slytherin?" the woman said, clasping her chest. "Miss Granger? She's a Muggle-born."

"I mean no disrespect, Professor, but our housing system is slightly different; they judge you by your qualities rather than your heritage. The hat basically told her that her Gryffindor spirit had died."

Just then, there was a flash and Dumbledore appeared, carrying three bodies with him. Will and Phoebe stood up, but his expression told them what he could not say.

"She can't be—" Will said, voice cracking.

"I arrived and managed to hold of most of the Death Eaters, but she was taken, Mr. Fortescue. These are the only survivors of the attack. The Aurors arrived just after I did, and they managed to round up a large number Death Eaters."

Dumbledore lay Professor Faleys, Madam Viarra, and Professor Featherpea down on the floor.

"None of the other teachers…?" Phoebe asked.

"They have departed from our world." Dumbledore said.

Phoebe burst into tears. Will too, felt tears running down his face. They had thought… they believed that Dumbledore, the almighty Dumbledore, would have been able to do something.

"Her owls were seen by some of the Death Eaters. The owl carrying the message to the Ministry was found, dead, a few yards past the gates. These three of your professors would not have survived if you had not come and told me your tale."

"It didn't make any difference though!" Will said angrily. "The person responsible for saving everyone is now dead."

"No, Will, it's even worse than that..." Phoebe said hoarsely. "She's been captured by the Death Eaters. They'll torture her and—"

"We need to get you to the Hospital Wing. You are their leaders, Mr. Fortescue and Miss Longscoombe. They will not survive mentally and emotionally if you are not strong for them. Tell them whatever you deem is right." The woman said.

Then they were led from Professor Dumbledore's office, with three of their professor's bodies floating behind them. They were met in the corridors by two very frightened Gryffindors.

"Professor Dumbledore! Hermione—" Ron exclaimed.

"Phoebe? Will? What are you doing here?" Harry asked.

Will was gawking at him again, so Phoebe shoved him aside, while he continued his imitation of a goldfish, not acknowledging his change in position. She gave Harry his cloak after telling the story and turned away, just missing the expression of dismay and anguish upon Hermione's friends' faces. Harry and Ron left the group and the others continued to the Hospital Wing.


	7. Saved?

When Hermione saw spells coming from her right and seemingly from nowhere, it took very little time for her to realise who it was.

"Run! You idiots! I need you to keep the others safe! Get out of here! Aurors are coming, just get away from here!" She yelled.

If they died, the students would be lost.

"What about—" She heard Will say.

"Stop worrying about me, for Merlin's sake! Go!"

They disappeared, but were soon pursued. Hermione did not have enough time or energy to stop the Death Eaters. About twenty or thirty Death Eaters went off after Will and Phoebe, and she prayed with all her might that they would get away.

Her leg was hit by a curse and she fell, but she was still able to fight. It was hopeless. They had got rid of about forty Death Eaters, quite surprising amount, but there were still at least another thirty and there were only six of them left.

Out of the corner of her eye, she saw Professor Denvil fall. Four teachers left. Where were the Aurors? Then it hit Hermione. The owls had very light colours. It would have been very easy to spot them and they could have been hexed. Then it dawned upon Hermione. No one was coming. No one was going to save them. They were all going to die here tonight. She looked around her, and saw her professors' dead bodies, the last three of her professors fighting for their lives and trying to buy time for the students.

This was hopeless.

Suddenly, Hermione felt a renewed sense of determination and courage wash over her, and she increased the speed and force of her spells. Soon, five were down, then ten, but she also received many blows. She managed to get fifteen when a flash of light appeared.

It was Dumbledore! She breathed a sigh of relief, but was struck by another curse. She fell, but not before she saw Dumbledore stunning and throwing Death Eaters to the side by the dozens. She was losing consciousness, but she struggled to continue fighting. She felt herself being picked up, and she screamed, but it was too late. The remaining Death Eaters disapparated and they had taken her as their one and only prize.

When she woke up again, many hours later, she was in a dark place. The room was large, about the same size as the Great Hall. At the centre was a cloaked figure. When it turned its slitted, blood-red eyes to meet hers, she realised exactly where she was. A shiver of fear trembled down her spine. Voldemort. She struggled against her captor's grip in vain. She was thrown onto the ground before Voldemort, to receive her due punishment for rescuing the school, but she tried to crawl away. Somebody stepped on her back and she collapsed under the weight. Unable to move, she squeezed her eyes shut and forced herself to hold back her tears.

"So, all I asked of you was to conquer an insignificant little school, and you are not able to do that? _Crucio_!"

There was screaming and pleading for forgiveness. After a few minutes, Voldemort released whoever it was.

"But, Lucius, although you failed, you have brought back a very nice gift. And she was the one who foiled our plans? Even better." His voice became a high pitched cackle, and Hermione shuddered.

"Miss Granger, I will allow you one chance to live. You are a bright, intelligent girl. A Mudblood, yes, but you will receive the acknowledgement you have sought for so long, if only you join me."

"Never!" Hermione spat.

The pressure on her back was increasing, and that was when Hermione realised that it was Voldemort stepping on her.

"Not even for your family?" he sneered.

Hermione froze. That was exactly what Dumbledore had said to her, over a year ago. Was she willing to trade her friends' lives for her family's safety? Harry, Ron, Will, Phoebe, Ginny, Dumbledore...

"NO!" She yelled.

"Pity. _Crucio_."

Hermione was in extreme pain. This was beyond anything she had ever experienced. Even screaming did not help relieve the pain much. It was like having all of her bones broken and then being thrown into a blast furnace, although, she had never actually experienced that sort of torture, so she couldn't be sure, but that was what she thought it would feel like anyway. After what seemed like an age, she was released.

"Play with her, break her, do whatever you want with her, but kill her afterwards." Voldemort hissed.

There was a pop and he disapparated. Hermione felt her spirits rise, they could apparate here! But she didn't have a licence and would be breaking the law. She waved that off, what did she care what the law said as long as she could get out of here? But then, she could get splinched. Now that was a horrible idea. She decided to let her crystal absorb energy so that she could apparate out of this God-forsaken place, but the process needed time. She could feel the crystal becoming colder as its energy was passed to her, she needed to wait until the crystal was warm again before she was sure that she would have enough power to apparate. She felt someone roll her onto her back and Hermione bit back a gasp of horror. She was looking into a mirror-image of herself.

"Hermione Granger… do you know who I am?" the impersonator said.

"You're—You're the one who framed me! And you're the one who's been trying to kill Harry all year." Hermione said angrily.

"Correct, but who am I?" The girl said.

Hermione went quiet, her mind racing through the clues. In truth, she had not thought much about the identity of the culprit, more about what precautions should be taken. She went through the clues.

A Gryffindor. A girl. Sixth or seventh year, since the potions thing had to be done by someone familiar with NEWT level stuff. The Exploding Hex thing meant that it had to be someone who went into Harry's dormitory quite often. Someone that they trusted. The girl who framed Hermione would want to make herself safe…

The answer dawned on her and in a fit of rage she lashed out, and made a deep scratch across the false Hermione's cheek. Hermione was furious, and ignored the stabbing pain in her legs as she launched herself at the girl again.

"How could you! How could you!" Hermione screamed.

She managed to give the girl a black eye and a deep cut on her face, but then, she suffered a long dose of the Cruciatus, very painful and drawn out. She clutched her crystal and screamed:

"HARRY!"

She did not have the strength to say Ron's name, but the pain… the pain…

Little did she know, miles and miles away, in a large building set towering above a lake, a boy fell over in his chair in the middle of breakfast, screaming in agony.

"There's no use, Granger. I have your wand, and your little crystal won't work without it. Pity, isn't it? By sunset, Harry Potter will be no more."

The girl laughed shrilly and disapparated. Then, the horror began. Although most of them had left, there was still a group of about five or six men. The crystal was as cold as ice, alerting her to the fact that her magic was at an all-time low. They stood in a ring around her. One on her right swooped down upon her first, and tore off her clothing. When she realised what they were doing, she struggled to get away. But two others held her down. She squirmed and wriggled, and kept her legs tightly glued together, but the man slipped a hand in between her knees and parted them.

"No! Get off me!"

She twisted her body this way and that, but gave up the moment he entered her, and pierced through her. She screamed and screamed, but he continued thrusting into her, over and over again. And when he was done, she was a broken heap on the ground, sobbing. The other five took turns raping her, and, one by one, disapparated once they were finished, except for the last – Lucius Malfoy.

By now, Hermione had lost her will to go on. So much pain… such humiliation and demoralisation. She was their whore, and now she was going to die. She yearned for death, and looked up at Malfoy as he smirked down at her, raising his wand. Suddenly, bursting her cloudy mind like a flare of lightning, the memory of the impersonator's words flashed before her eyes.

"_By sunset, Harry Potter will be no more."_

"Avada Kedavra!"

There was a flash of green, but Hermione had rolled out of the way. You cannot defend yourself from such a spell, but you can evade it. The man howled with rage and cast it again, but Hermione ran into his body, bowling him over, and grabbed his wand. She immediately stunned and bound him before putting him under a full-body bind. She was not taking any chances. She was already lucky that she managed to wrestle his wand from him. She then put on what remained of her Phinxmere uniform, before grabbing Lucius Mafoy's arm and disapparating. At least, if she splinched, he would too. The thought allowed a strange smile to light up her face.

When she opened her eyes, she almost cried with relief. She was just outside Hogwarts! She laughed and stumbled forwards, using a mobilicorpus on Malfoy and floating him through the gates and up the path. She was fighting to stay conscious, and walked slowly, pain emanating from her wounds with every step she took. The muscles in her legs were basically sliced through, her kneecap was smashed, she had broken her wrist and her face was covered in cuts and bruises. Her arms were covered in black and blue fingerprints, and she was bleeding heavily from her newest wound.

She ended up crawling on all fours, until she collapsed a few metres away from the main entrance. The sky was cloudy and it began to rain heavily, just Hermione's luck, so that nobody could see her or Lucius Malfoy. She turned and removed the spell, before attempting to crawl even further. She left Lucius Malfoy behind, seeing as using magic was draining what energy she had left and she crawled desperately up the stairs. When she reached the door, she clawed at it, and thumped on it with all her might, hoping that someone… anyone… would answer.

She blacked out just as the door opened into her head.

When she woke, she felt very refreshed. She looked around her and sighed. She was in the Hospital Wing. Madam Pomfrey bustled in and smiled kindly at her.

"How do you feel Hermione?"

"A lot better, thank you. Just a little sore… down there." She said, flushing.

"Yes, that happens. Don't worry, it'll go very soon."

"What time is it?"

"It's almost supper time. It's dusk."

The sun is setting. Those few words repeated in her mind, and she froze. She jumped out of bed and stared out the window. The sun was beginning to set.

"Where's Harry?" Hermione asked, panicking.

"Oh, Mr. Potter? He left about twenty minutes ago, saying he had Quidditch practice."

"Thank you Madam Pomfrey! But I have to run!"

Hermione dashed out just as the school nurse shouted at her not to go anywhere. Hermione ran and ran, ignoring the students. Her mind was a little fuzzy and she felt a little dizzy, but one thought took priority:

Harry.

Hermione dashed down the stairs, and flew past the portraits. A few professors paused when they saw a flash of brown and black, and followed after the girl. Hermione was feeling very tired by the time she reached the main entrance, so she did the one thing she thought that she would never have to do for the rest of her life.

"_Accio _broom."

And she waited.


	8. Cleared

A broom came skidding to a halt before her, a few seconds later, and she jumped on it, scowling, before she kicked off. She hadn't ridden a broom for about four years, so she felt queasy as she made it speed up and aimed towards the pitches. She arrived just in time to see it. 

Harry was high above the pitches, looking for the snitch, when his broom gave a jerk, and he slipped slightly. His broom flew forwards, picking up speed and made sharp turns round and round. And to Hermione's horror, she could see that Harry had no control of the broom. She searched the players, all of whom were staring and pointing at Harry, when she saw her. Hermione gulped and flew forwards, accelerating faster and faster and faster, until she barrelled into the girl, causing the jinx to stop its effect. There were gasps of horror; it was too late, Harry had fallen off the broom. Seeing this, Hermione pushed forwards once again, arms outstretched. She was sure that she wouldn't make it. She yelled and made the broom speed up, fervently praying as the limp figure descended at an almighty speed towards the ground.

She could see some of the other team members going towards Harry as well, but they were too far away.

She crashed into Harry, and wrapped her arms around him, frantically trying to stay seated on the broom. He was barely conscious, his body kept slipping because Hermione's arms did not have enough strength, and the broom was headed straight for a tree! With great difficulty, Hermione leaned to her right and manoeuvred the broom to turn slightly, and she closed her eyes and tightened her grip on Harry as they crashed through its bristles. The branches stung and cut her face and she yelped in pain. Once out of the tree, Hermione leaned forwards, putting Harry's weight towards the front of the broom so that it dipped downwards, and the broom sped towards the ground. Unfortunately, it was going at such a high speed, Hermione only had a few seconds to react.

She clutched Harry's body to herself and once they were close enough to the ground, she threw herself off, with Harry on top of her, onto the grass. The wind was knocked out of her when Harry's weight pushed down on her and she felt her ribcage protesting violently. The broom crashed into the ground with a sickening crack, and she turned her head to see a pulverised and very damaged broomstick.

Harry must have fallen unconscious, because his weight on her chest and stomach increased, and caused her huge difficulties in breathing. Her back screamed in pain and her arms barely listened to her as she gasped for air and used them to roll Harry off her body. She saw people approaching and stood up shakily. It was the Gryffindor team. Ron had turned a deadly sheet of white at the sight of Harry.

"Is he-is he—"

"Harry's alive. Somebody, take him to Madam Pomfrey." Hermione said.

There was a bit of scuffling behind her as two sixth-year boys lifted Harry up and carried him to the Hospital Wing, shooting uncertain looks at Hermione. Hermione then focused her eyes on the culprit and whipped out her wand, charging towards the young team member.

"You!" She yelled. "You traitorous b—"

"Hermione! That's Ginny!" Ron yelled.

"I know it is. And she's the one who's been trying to kill Harry all year, and would have succeeded, if she hadn't made so many mistakes."

"Hermione, you've had a blow to the head, you're not thinking straight." Ron said pleadingly.

Ginny had an expression of horror and confusion on her face, and people looked from her to the furious glare of Hermione Granger. Who did they trust more?

"Oh no, Ron. Think about it. It had to be a Gryffindor, since the person had managed to get into Harry's room, and it had to be someone that Harry trusted enough to let them sit on his bed, because your wand has to touch the object that you want to explode."

"But anyone could have put the hex on the pillow and switched it for Harry's!" Ron said.

"Yes, but how many people know about the Map, Ron? How many people know about the cloak? And it couldn't have been anyone below Sixth-year, because the potion you were brewing is NEWT stuff, no one below sixth year would have known that belladonna would cause that specific potion to become fatal. And when you told me it was a girl who wore red nail-varnish. I was such an idiot not to see it sooner." Hermione said, clapping her hand over her eyes in despair. "Ginny Weasley is the only one that fits all of those descriptions."

"How can you prove that it was me? It could have been someone else!" Ginny said.

"Oh, you're a very accomplished actress, Ginny. How shocked I was when I saw my own face peering down at me, condemning me and Harry. That's when I realised… _Accio _Polyjuice Potion!" Hermione said.

A small vial appeared out of Ginny Weasley's breast pocket, and she tried to force it to stay, but it tore through Ginny's hands and Hermione caught it.

"You collected my hair from the bathroom, didn't you Ginny? I shed so much hair after having a shower, anyone could have just taken some hair and used it. Ginny's very good at Potions as well, so I'm not surprised that she can brew a Polyjuice Potion in her fifth year. When I realised this earlier on, I knew what to do. Since I knew that Ginny would have to return to lessons, she would not have had time to heal her wounds, so I fought her and punched her in the eye and left a cut on her cheek. _Finite incantem_."

Hermione's wand was aimed at Ginny's face, and the glamour charm disappeared. As Hermione had said, Ginny had a nice black bruise and a healing cut on her cheek. Ginny looked flabbergasted, but not as flabbergasted as Ron.

"You've got it wrong! That vial isn't mine, and I walked into the door this morning! Are you going to listen to this-this traitor?" Ginny said.

"Ginny, that was another thing that gave you away. The real traitor would have wanted to make sure nobody would suspect her, and so she would have slandered the framed person and acting as though she despised You-Know-Who. And, that night that Harry and Ron were talking to me by the fire, why did you automatically assume they were talking about Order stuff? They haven't been inducted yet, and wouldn't know a lot. The only reason would be that you _wanted _to hear what was being planned – every single detail, not like the rest of us who just wanted to know some bits, to be treated like adults. What really made everything clicked was the fact that whenever you were around Harry, he did not feel any staring eyes. And, when he was pushed off the stairs, he said he thought that someone was under his cloak, but if he was on his way to dinner, meaning that he had just come from his room, so he would have noticed if the cloak was missing from under his bed. And he had returned to get the map, and the cloak, I assume was probably still there. And since the person was using _his _cloak, therefore, one can assume that the culprit had acted without a cloak that time, and so it could have only been Neville or Ginny. Now which one of these two do you actually think is capable of brewing a Polyjuice Potion, go into the girls' showers pick my hairs from the drain, pushing friends off stairs and poisoning them?"

People stared at Ginny in horror, and she was shaking by now.

"It wasn't me! I swear!"

"What did he offer you, Ginny? Power? Wealth? Or the ability to surpass your brothers? I was not the one who betrayed Harry, _you _did. You betrayed him, you betrayed your _brother_, and you betrayed _me_. You betrayed Snape to Him! How many innocent people have died because of your actions, Ginny? How many of your friends are you willing to sacrifice just to bow down and grovel at the feet of a monster?" Hermione was enraged now.

Her hand trembled with anger. Just then, somebody stood between the two, and Hermione looked up.

"Professor Dumbledore?" Hermione said.

"Give me the vial, Miss Granger."

"Yes, Professor."

Hermione gave him the vial and he turned to Ginny.

"Now, Miss Weasley, if you are innocent, this will not be a Polyjuice Potion, correct?"

Ginny nodded hesitantly.

"So, just drink it, and let us see what it is."

Ginny backed away, but the Gryffindor team had cornered her, so she had no choice but to drink the potion. Within seconds, all the spectators gasped. In the place of Ginny Weasley was a spitting image of Hermione Granger. Ginny looked down to the ground, in shame.

"I bet you were the one who told them. You were the reliable source." Hermione spat. "I bet that you convinced Snape to wait somewhere on the grounds for the next time his mark burnt, and watch for me. But instead, you appeared, and he saw my face, instead of yours. You probably tipped Lavender off and made her curious about my belongings, and planted the mask under my bed, and Lavender would have brought it straight to Professor Dumbledore."

"You weren't supposed to survive." Ginny said quietly. "Lucius was supposed to kill you, and then I'd be rid of your foul shadow. That's all you are – a shadow. I didn't care about my brothers, I was better than them, but it was _you_! Because of you, I was always pushed to the side, ignored. I hate you. And the Dark Lord had sensed this even in my first year, that I felt jealous of your achievements. He promised me your death in return for my loyalty."

Ginny's eyes were burning now.

"Once he defeats Potter and Dumbledore, I will have full power over everyone." Ginny began to laugh.

Dumbledore looked upon Ginny with a sad gaze. Two Aurors appeared behind the group and took Ginny away. And a heavy silence descended upon them. Professor Dumbledore turned around and bowed down to Hermione, to her surprise.

"I apologise, Miss Granger, I should—I should have known better than to accuse you without solid proof. Forgive an old man for his foolishness."

Hermione looked at him blankly.

"It was a mistake. People often do that from time to time. We're only human after all. Ginny fooled a lot of people. I've got my revenge. It's time to move on."

Hermione took one step when she breathed in sharply and collapsed, clutching her chest. There was something wrong… she still could not breathe properly.

"Hermione!"

"Ron…" Hermione smiled.

Then, she fell unconscious.

She woke up a week later, to be greeted by Harry, Ron, Phoebe, Will and a bunch of other Gryffindors and other Phinxgild students.

"One would think you'd gain something from such a long beauty sleep." Will joked.

"Oh, shut up, you!" Hermione said, punching him weakly on the shoulder.

"We really thought you had died." Phoebe said, hugging Hermione.

"Yeah, Harry gave us all a fright at breakfast that day. It was a actually quite funny." Snickers echoed throughout the room and Harry glared at Ron.

"What happened?" Hermione asked.

"Well, he… come on Harry! The girl did ask!" Harry was still glaring at Ron "Anyway, Harry was just eating breakfast normally, we were wondering where Ginny was, and suddenly, his piece of toast was halfway to his mouth when he literally toppled backwards from his seat at the table. You should have seen Snape's face! He looked like Christmas had come early! Anyway, Harry began rolling around on the floor and screaming and somehow rolled underneath the breakfast table, and then, he stopped. The whole hall was quiet, and then there was this loud thud."

"Let me guess, Harry whacked his head against the table." Hermione said.

The whole room burst into fits of giggles. Harry turned bright red.

"Yeah, and the whole of the Gryffindors started laughing, and the other houses joined in, even the Slytherins. Oh Merlin! What a great show- uh, breakfast that had been!"

"You were lucky Ron, I just didn't have enough breath to say your name. I think that Ginny was a bit over excited with the Cruciatus thing. I didn't think that it would work… strange." Hermione frowned.

"She's off again! Can't you take a break from thinking from time to time?" Will asked.

"Do you even know what the word 'to think' means?" Phoebe snorted. "I've never seen you do it."

Hermione smiled. It's great to have her friends back.

"Where are you guys staying?" Hermione asked.

"With the Slytherins." Phoebe replied.

"Yeah. They're quite a drab lot. They all think that Muggle-borns shouldn't be allowed to stay in the dungeons. I sorted that out." Will's eyes gleamed.

Hermione and Phoebe groaned together.

"What did you do _this time_?" they both asked at the same time.

"Nothing, of course." Will said with a very odd gleam in his eye.

"You know, I'm beginning to like the Slytherins better now that the Emeralds are around." Ron commented.

"Thanks." Will said.

"I think that comment excluded you, Will." Phoebe said, patting his head.

"Where will I go though?" Hermione asked.

Everyone fell silent.

"But you're a Gryffindor!" Ron exclaimed.

"No, she's an Emerald, Ron, remember, that day in the fire? We met Will and Phoebe, and they're Emeralds, so she'll probably be staying with the Slytherins."

"But that's like suicide! Malfoy would tear her apart for landing his father in Azkaban, again!"

"Malfoy won't be doing much for a while." Will said, whistling.

"What _did _you do?" Phoebe asked curiously.

"I discovered a neat little cupboard that kinda vanishes anything that goes into it, and he happened to be passing by, so I asked him whether he wanted to experimented on."

"Did you even wait for an answer?" Hermione asked.

He seemed to be in deep thought.

"I don't think I even asked him…" He mused.

Everyone burst into howls of laughter.


	9. Back to Normal?

Christmas passed very happily. Some people went to Hermione and apologised for their behaviour, and she was decidedly very gracious towards them, considering what they had done to her. But she still felt upset when she thought about one person – Snape. He avoided her at all costs, and she never got a chance to talk to him.

Although she was happy, she still felt uncomfortable to be touched by the people around her. Once, Ron tried to hug her from behind and she got into such a panic that she had stunned him before she realised who it was.

Things were going fairly smoothly. Hermione stayed in Gryffindor tower, but her friends from other houses came whenever she wanted them to and nobody minded. There was one person, in fact, that a lot of people liked. And many people felt that Will could take after the Weasley twins and enjoyed his presence. It took a long time to tell Will who the infamous Twins were, but when Ron, Harry and Hermione had finished, there was a gleam in Will's eyes that was very suspicious.

"Wow! They sound like amazing people! How can I get into contact with them?"

"I don't think that'll be a good idea." Phoebe said, gently, but menacingly, flicked her wand, breaking a nearby glass, effectively shutting him up.

From that day on, Will began to pull pranks here and there, co-ordinating with Peeves. He was never caught. His favourite victims were usually Filch, Mrs. Norris, and Snape, but he favoured no house. Even Hermione stumbled into one of his traps. Her hair was blue for the whole day! No one really minded, since a lot of his tricks were amusing to watch. It provided the school with a slightly cheerful atmosphere, with everyone on their toes anxiously wondering what will happen next.

One evening, Hermione decided to pluck up her courage and made her way to the dungeons. She did not know why she felt this urge to find the Potions Master, nor did she understand why she no longer felt any hatred towards him. Before she knew it, she had knocked on the door, and was in his office, sitting in one of the chairs, fidgeting with the hem of her robes.

Snape did not even look up from his marking and there was no sign that he actually noticed or acknowledged her presence. Hermione watched as his quill made elegant, but spiky letters on the top of the page, but cringed when she saw that the person had received a G. Looking closely, the whole three feet in parchment had tiny, familiar, scrawls in red, in comparison of the large handwriting that the student had used, obviously so that they could reach the minimum requirement without having to write too much. There were blotches of ink stains all over the parchment, and Hermione frowned. Why couldn't people just write a little neater?

"Miss Granger, although I have no doubt that you enjoy staring at my student's homework, have you come down for a reason other than to provide another source of annoyance?" Professor Snape said, glaring at her.

Hermione realised that he must have stopped writing for at least a whole minute and refrained from flushing in embarrassment. She did feel a little annoyed, herself, at the man's attitude. However, she became more irritated with herself when she couldn't think for the world why she wanted to come and speak to him. Her throat became parched and she felt like she was shrinking under his cool gaze. His face was devoid of any emotion. No sneer, no smirk. Hermione flinched when she remembered that day in the corridor. She sighed and wondered what would be the most tactful way to begin.

"Professor… I'm not sure why I came down here, specifically, but I suppose, as you can probably guess, the Gryffindor Know-It-All just wanted to satisfy her curiosity once again." Hermione started.

It betrayed her inner-anger at him, but it was better than showing him that she was just purely confused as to what she ought to say. Professor Snape did not say anything, surprisingly, and waited, but his eyes were narrowed dangerously at her.

"I wanted to know… that day… why did you walk away?" Hermione asked.

She knew the answer to it, but she just wanted to confirm her suspicions. Professor Snape sneered at her.

"Surely, a Know-It-All such as yourself will know the answer?"

"I don't go around presuming the reasons as to why other people act the way they do. I'm not that arrogant, Professor. And, I am not a 'Know-It-All', sir, I have never known everything, I only seek to know and learn as much as is available to me." Hermione sighed. "Plus, if I did 'know it all', I would have known who was framing me right from the start. I would… there's no point wondering what would have been. The hard fact is that I am not a Know-It-All, nor am I a Gryffindor."

Snape looked surprised.

"Denouncing your own house? What a change, Miss Granger." He said, sneering.

"No, Professor. I was a coward. I ran from my problems. I am a coward, who doesn't belong in Gryffindor. I'm an Emerald now, but I chose to live in Gryffindor so that I could preserve my life, thank you very much." Hermione huffed a little.

"Miss Granger, you call fighting against Death Eaters cowardly?" Snape said. "And then facing the Dark Lord, rape and torture, was just to preserve your life?"

His voice was sceptical. Hermione refrained from smirking.

"I was not about to leave two hundred people at the mercy of Death Eaters. It was pure chance that Ron decided to contact me and thereby resulting in my buying the crystals that warned me of the Death Eaters' presence. It was pure chance that we happened to choose that evening to break curfew. I had done what I thought was right to do. I was calm, while my companions were not, so I took charge. I did what I had to do. My life was forfeit anyway. The whole of Hogwarts was buzzing with the fact that I had betrayed Harry, so not only was I on the Death Eaters 'To Kill' list, I had the Order after my blood as well. I stood my ground because of my own curiosity to discover who framed me. I did nothing that counted as Gryffindor that night."

"But you did not run away." Snape said.

There was a very awkward silence. Snape was no longer looking at her, but rather, over her head. Hermione was staring at a silver object on the corner of the desk that resembled something that she would expect to find in Dumbledore's office.

"You see, Miss Granger, you are a Gryffindor."

"No, Professor, even the sorting hat said that my Gryffindor spirit was dead." Hermione cut in. "I am an Emerald, nothing more, nothing less. I am not Slytherin, but I am not Gryffindor either. I am just me. Will you answer my question, Professor?"

"Miss Granger, unlike you, I am a Slytherin. I am a vengeful person."

"So, you left me lying in the middle of the corridor, almost dead, because you were getting revenge." Hermione mused.

His face reddened in fury. She did not mean for her words to sound so insulting.

"I was not trying to patronise you, Professor. It simply makes sense."

Then, Hermione was struck by a thought.

"Professor?"

"What is it?" He snapped, harshly.

"I wanted to ask you for help."

"Miss Granger, I am at a loss as to how _I _can help you."

That was enough to tell Hermione that Snape was actually sorry for what he had done. Why should the person he left in the midst of her enemies to suffer want his help?

"I wanted advice.. about what I should do in the future." Hermione said.

"Miss Granger, you have come to the wrong place. I am not your Head of House, nor am I very interested in helping." Snape said.

Hermione was stung by his words, but smiled, almost to the point of breaking out into giggles. He watched her with an unreadable expression, but she could just see, lingering at the forefront of his mind, the suspicion of whether she had actually gone mad. Her eyes glittered with amusement – he thought that she would actually voluntarily go to seek out Professor McGonagall after the woman had betrayed her trust when she had needed it the most. How absurd.

"Professor, do you think that I will ever be able to trust Professor McGonagall or Professor Dumbledore, ever again?" Hermione laughed. "I can trust them to do their best to win this war, but I cannot trust them with personal matters any longer."

"I am still perplexed as to why you have come to me, of all the Professors." He ground out with teeth clenched.

"Professor, you reacted in exactly the way I would have expected you to react. Because someone has done you wrong, you want revenge. That is exactly what I have come to expect from most of the Slytherins. You did not know I was innocent, so I can understand why you reacted so vici--vociferously. Whereas I had expected support from my friends, I had expected support from Professor McGonagall. I had even believed the Professor Dumbledore would suddenly start smiling and say that it was all a very cruel joke. I have forgiven Harry and Ron, because, as rational people should, they thought it over, even though it took them a very long time," Hermione scowled. "they finally decided that they trusted in me, and did not think I would turn against them. Professor McGonagall never even gave it a second thought."

"You are incorrect in that assumption, Miss Granger, Professor McGonagall spent many meetings arguing your innocence."

That phrase lifted her heart somewhat, and she smiled at him once more, no, she beamed at him.

"Thank you Professor, I hadn't thought of that."

"Clearly." He responded curtly.

"You are the only one out of all of them who did not change their spots. Does that makes sense?" Hermione asked herself, before shaking her head clear and moving on. "I know that I can rely on you not to give me a false, pretty story because you are afraid that you would hurt my feelings. That is what all the other professors would do."

No acknowledgement. Professor Snape had returned to his all-time favourite of just staring blankly at Hermione and unnerving her greatly.

"So, uh- can you help me?" Hermione asked hopefully, losing her courage instantly.

No reply. Snape continued staring at her. Hermione started wondering whether she had spilt something over the front of her robes during dinner. As time passed by, Hermione began to panic. He wasn't even blinking! Was he actually still alive? Hermione stared at his chest and nearly breathed a sigh of relief when she saw it rise and fall steadily.

"What is it that you plan on doing, Miss Granger?" Professor Snape said, sighing in defeat and rubbing his eyes.

Hermione refrained from jumping up and hugging him.

"Well, you see, I'm not sure about that. Well, becoming an Auror would be fine, but a complete waste, in my opinion. The only time I would get to use my brain would be planning. I thought about Healing, that should be interesting, but I'm not sure. I've been thinking about taking an apprenticeship."

"An apprenticeship?" Snape said, surprised.

Hermione nodded.

"I did think of doing Transfiguration, but… I've changed my mind. Charms is a little too… easy? I don't know how to describe it. It's fun to do charms and invent them and stuff, but I want to do something more challenging. That leaves Arithmancy, Defence Against the Dark Arts, and Potions." Hermione sighed, trying to sort out her thoughts.

"Have you thought about doing a joint apprenticeship?" Snape asked.

"A joint apprenticeship?"

"Where you choose two subjects and one is your major and the other your minor. You would do both at the same time, although concentrating on your major subject, and you would earn a Mistress title for both, but when you are looking for a vocation, you will have to specify which one is a minor. Or, you could do two separate apprenticeships which you would have to do one after the other. Taking an apprenticeship is not an easy task, so most people only take one. If you choose to do Healing, you will have to become an apprentice, of sorts, anyway, for a period of time. Healing is a very gruelling careers path, as well, but also very popular for those seeking for an easier path than apprenticing to become recognised as an intelligent" Snape snorted. "being, but less dangerous than becoming an Auror."

Hermione nodded and absorbed the new information. Well, she could scratch being a Healer, he made it sound horrible, and being an Auror. She cringed, how was she going to tell Ron and Harry that the two options they would have been more supportive of had just been eliminated from her list, leaving apprenticeship. Potentially a Potions one as well. She was not sure if she wanted to master Defence Against the Dark Arts, it would be basically the same thing as Auror training. So, Arithmancy or Potions… or both?

"Thank you very much Professor. It's been a great help." Hermione said, nodding her head in respect as she stood up. "Sorry for taking up your time, sir."

Snape had already returned to his marking and grunted in response. Hermione smiled once more as she left.

"Good night, Professor."

* * *

Thank you to all of my readers! The numbers are starting to make sense now. But please, reviews will be welcomed at any time, even if it isn't my birthday quite yet. Thank you also to the readers who had read 'Escape from Reality' even though I did not receive much feedback. Any advice on how I can improve any of my stories will be most welcome. 

I hope you enjoyed this chapter.

-- blossomed-angel --


	10. Development

Although I would like to say that all ended happily ever after, I am afraid, I must disappoint you.

Hermione was staring at the lake. It was the Easter holidays, and the sun shone, but offered no warmth. So why was the girl, standing at the edge of the water, seemingly staring at the water? What was that black envelope she was clutching onto so tightly in her right fist? Why did she hide behind the trunk of the nearby tree when her friends ran past, calling her name?

Hermione sighed. This just did not make sense. Her parents were not supposed to return home early. Their owl must have been intercepted. She laughed mournfully. What was the point? They were dead. Her beloved father and mother - dead, because she had said 'no' to Lord Voldemort. She guessed that he wasn't the kind of person who could lightly take 'no' for an answer. She laughed.

Sliding against the bark of the tree, ignoring the pricking of the bark into her back, Hermione shivered. She was only wearing a T-shirt and trousers, since it was a weekend. She fingered the envelope. Before she could take it no longer, and, in a fit of fury, tore the letter up into tiny squares. There, that had been therapeutic enough. She gazed at the surface of the lake, savouring the view of the light of the setting sun, dancing gaily upon the rippling tides.

Suddenly, an owl appeared in the horizon. The dot grew bigger, and bigger, and finally, it settled down on a branch above Hermione's head and dropped the envelope on her head. It hooted happily and loudly, alerting her friends of her hiding place, before disappearing once more, to a far away and unknown land.

Well, not unknown, since it said on the back of the envelope that it was from a lawyer in London.

Hermione ripped open the letter and read.

_Dear Miss Granger,_

_I would like to offer you my sincere consolations to your recent losses._

When lawyers put the word 'sincere' in their letters it means bad news.

_According to the will that your parents drafted and left in my possession, all of their money, possessions and estate have been transferred into your possession, and I have new contracts for you to sign so that you can claim all of these._

_By law, once your adoptive parents have died, you have a right to know who your original parents are (unless an item that has been verified certifies that you are never to know even their names, because it would place you, others or themselves in danger). Unfortunately, no such document has been found, so if you would pass by my office some time soon, you can sign all the legal documents (providing you are over eighteen years of age) and you can receive the information of your birthparents, should you so desire._

Hermione skipped the rest of the letter, which mainly consisted of random comments. What kind of a lawyer was this? Hermione did not have to ponder over this before her friends arrived.

"Hey! Hermione! We've been looking everywhere for you!" Will said.

"Did you not hear us call you?" Phoebe asked.

Hermione smiled and shoved the letter into her book bag, which had been carelessly thrown aside.

"I fell asleep. I've been really tired." Hermione said, yawning.

"Well, you have been staying up late, every night, for the past five weeks, revising for NEWTs. Merlin Beard, you're making me nervous." Ron said.

"I want to do my best in these exams, and you know that you do as well, somewhere inside that thing that you call a brain." Hermione snapped, losing her patience.

"You still haven't told us what you're planning to do after school. Will and Phoebe say that you're going to go into Healing, Ron thinks you're going to train to become an Auror. I mean, I thought so at first, but… you seemed to have changed your mind." Harry said.

"I don't really know what I'm going to do… I don't think I'll become an Auror or a Healer." Hermione said.

"But Hermione—!" Ron began.

"You'll tell us when you've decided, right?" Phoebe stepped in.

Hermione was once again thankful to have a person with a bit of tact in this little group of five. Suddenly, something stirred in her mind and she pressed two fingers against her right temple and pressed, as though, if she tried hard enough, she could push the thought out the other side. Her mind was too heavy for thinking, and so she let go, wondering at what had triggered off her thinking wheels.

"Hermione? Are you all right?" Harry asked.

"Do you need to go and see Madam Pomfrey?" Phoebe added.

"No. I just. I just need some time to think." And grieve. But Hermione did not say those two words; she did not want their pity, she wanted their friendship.

The others nodded and scattered, leaving Hermione to sit back down in the cold and stare out at the lake. So, she was adopted? Yes, that she could gather from the letter. But why didn't her parents tell her? That was the most daunting thought. What if her real parents were convicts or… or… something in Hermione's heart seemed to doubt that idea. Her parents would never have accepted a convict's daughter into their household. That's when Hermione realised: Just because her parents were her birth parents, didn't mean that they weren't her _real_ parents. They were the ones who had a place in her heart, and in her heart, she loved them above anything.

Hermione broke down.

She only realised she had been sitting out of doors for six hours when the sun began to set. She was numb from grief and had probably turned blue from the cold. Even the shivering ceased to snap her out of her trance-like state. Hermione had been thinking of her parents, dredging up her old, happy memories, when she realised that she had been neglecting them for the past seven years – since she arrived at Hogwarts. This fact made her feel extreme guilt, and she prayed to whatever God that existed that her parents were resting in peace and that their deaths had not been painful.

She made her way back to the castle in a daze. It was as though she had forgotten how to walk. She stumbled, swayed from side to side, tripped over air, and lay on the ground, where she had fallen, sitting in a trance for a few minutes, before she remembered what she was doing and continued stumbling back towards the castle. She only made it half-way when she no longer had the will-power to move, and she sat, cross-legged, on the ground, with her eyes shut.

"Miss Granger? What in Merlin's name are you doing out here?" a deep voice floated from behind her.

"Good evening, Professor Snape." Hermione said.

Her voice was thick with phlegm and tears. Not a sight for sore eyes. Her own eyes were sore enough -bright red and puffy, her lips were swollen but chapped, and dark eye-bags were present under her eyes. She was trembling from the cold, but this calmed a little when she felt herself being wrapped by a black cloak. She was extremely surprised.

"Professor?"

"Miss Granger, I do not want to have to be sent to Azkaban because I found you and left you out here, in the cold, to freeze to death." He said harshly.

His words cut through her fogged mind and she smiled. Things were clearing up in front of her already.

"Professor, may I apprentice under you for Potions?" She asked.

There was a loud snort, followed by a long dragged out sigh.

"I should have known that you would not choose Defence Against the Dark Arts or Arithmancy."

"If you don't want me as your apprentice, it's fine, sir, I'll just-I'll look elsewhere." Hermione highly doubted whether there was another Potions Master in Britain who was better than him in the field.

"Miss Granger, if you write a proper proposal, I _might _consider it."

With that, he disappeared back to the castle, sans his extra cloak.

Hermione wrapped the cloak around her as she, unsteadily, made her way back. The cloak was very large, and dragged behind her as she walked, and she attempted to bunch it up to prevent it from dragging, but it was too heavy for her numb fingers to keep a good grip on, so she decided to let it drag. Why did Professor Snape have an extra cloak on him? How random. She somehow managed to return to her common room without sustaining any serious injuries, and she slept very deeply that night.

The next day, she began writing a proposal as soon as she woke, wondering what on Earth Harry and Ron were going to say. It was a clever thing Snape did. He left her his cloak, and therefore she had to return it, giving her an opportunity to give him the proposal without feeling completely foolish. Since when had Snape begun to consider other people's feelings?

She picked up the cloak and stared at it. Suddenly, she buried her nose into the coarse material and breathed in deeply. Then, she quickly looked left and right, making sure there was no one else in her private dormitory, which she shared only with Crookshanks. Then, she sighed. Why was she so paranoid? It wasn't as though she were breaking the law. And Professor Snape wasn't going to suddenly appear in her bedroom, demanding why she was smelling his cloak.

"Coming to that, why am I smelling his cloak?" Hermione asked.

Her question was, obviously, not answered, since walls don't actually talk and stone can't actually hear, but Crookshanks appeared and scratched her leg, wanting attention. Hermione picked him up and returned to bed, allowing the half-Kneazle to lie on her stomach and purr as she stroked its fur. She wondered why she had done that. The cloak was now in a pile on the floor, where she had dropped it, and she stared at it once more.

She supposed that her curiosity merely got the better of her and she let it pass. Now, she wondered about the scent that clung on his cloak. There was her smell of strawberries on it, but the other smell… She couldn't define what it was, but it definitely suited Snape. It smelt of some sort of spice, combined with the smell of musty books. There was also a feeling of reliability that came with the cloak, surrounding the black item, as well as security.

"This is absurd!" She exclaimed out loud. "Why would I feel safe clinging onto an item of clothing?"

Suddenly, there was knocking on the door, making Hermione jolt upwards. Crookshanks disappeared hissingunder the bed, and Hermione pulled on a dressing gown and hurriedly ran her fingers through her near tame curls. She winced as she encountered large knots, but she little time to fume over this. The knocking began once more, more insistent.

"Coming!" Hermione said, smoothing down the sheets and quickly airing the blanket before smoothing that down and hurrying to the door.

She opened the door, and smiled.

"'Morning, Lavender."

"Hey Hermione! Harry wants to know if you want to go to Hogsmeade with him and Ron?"

"I'd love to," Hermione started, but then, she remembered Snape. "but I have to finish this work, it's really important."

"Hermione! Can't you take a little break?"

"Lavender, you know how important this stuff is to me. I really would love to go, but I'm behind with my work already, I took the whole of yesterday afternoon off."

"What about this morning?"

"This morning? What time is it?" Hermione asked, reaching for her watch.

"It's early afternoon."

Hermione groaned, she slept through the whole morning as well, no wonder she felt so refreshed and tired at the same time.

"I can't believe I slept for so long! I really must get to work. Tell Harry and Ron to have fun for me."

"All right." Lavender said, defeated. "I'll see you soon then."

Hermione smiled and waved good bye to her friend before shutting the door and cursing. She had wasted so much time! She immediately went to the bathroom and took a nice long shower, before rushing about like mad. She then sprinted down to the dungeons, hair still slightly damp, clutching the cloak and the proposal in her hands.

No matter what, her parents would not have wanted her to give up on her future. Especially not because of their deaths.


	11. Catch

_Miss Granger,_

_I have accepted your request to become an apprentice. Come to my office this evening at 8 o'clock._

Professor Snape 

Hermione was bouncing through the halls with joy. When she ran into Will and Phoebe, she hugged them and kissed them both on the cheek before continuing her destructive path back to the Gryffindor Common Room. When she saw Harry and Ron, she ginned happily.

"I'm going to become an apprentice." She said, happily.

"Apprentice? But aren't you…" Ron paused when he saw Harry's glare. "It suits you Hermione. It's a really – uh… difficult path, but the… hardship's worth it, since a Master of a subject can find a really well-paid job anywhere. Yeah…"

Ron sighed with relief as Harry death glare receded. Harry focused his attention on Herminoe and smiled.

"Have you been accepted?" Harry asked.

Hermione beamed at him.

"Yes! At first I thought he'd turn me down. Phew! I'm glad that's over." Hermione sighed.

She had waited for over a week. Professor Snape had been very disagreeable when he found her outside his office stammering about returning his cloak. She had felt slightly relieved when he actually took the proposal, not without insulting her first, but still…

"Well done, Hermione." Harry said, hugging her.

"Which subject are you apprenticing in?" Ron asked, trying to look supportive.

"Um… Potions." Hermione said in a quiet mumble.

Unfortunately it was loud enough for both of them to hear.

"POTIONS!" They both shouted at the same time.

Hermione felt the worms in her stomach wriggling even more now.

"Congrats, Hermione!" Will said, putting a hand on her shoulder.

"Well done! How in Merlin's name did you manage to convince Professor Snape into accepting you?" Phoebe said, smiling.

Hermione knew they were both trying to give Harry and Ron time to get used to the idea of their friend apprenticing under their most hated Professor.

"Hermione, I'm not saying this isn't a good opportunity. It's great, but… I mean, this is Snape we're talking about!" Harry said, exasperated.

"So?" Will said.

"Professor Snape will be a complete git to her." Ron said, grinding his teeth together.

"And?" Phoebe said.

Both Harry and Will looked on in confusion.

"You should know what is in a standard apprenticing contract, Phoebe!" Ron said. "You're a pureblood after all."

"I don't think heritage really matters on what you know or you don't know. Anyone with live wizard ties to them would be told."

"Hang on, I have a feeling we've been told two completely different things about Apprenticeship from our parents." Ron said, rubbing his forehead.

"Oh no, Ron, we've been told the same thing."

"Okay, guys, I'm getting a little scared here." Hermione said, her voice nothing more than a high squeak.

"Basically, what Wizarding children are told by their parents is that under no circumstances should they decide to become an apprentice." Phoebe said.

Hermione paled considerably.

"Why?" she asked.

"Well, there is a catch to it. Most parents leave out the bit saying: 'unless you are sure you will be able to survive five years of pure torture or you are a masochist'. They also leave out the bit saying that a lot of Masters and Mistresses are actually quite nice to their apprentices."

"Unfortunately, I think I chose a sadist to apprentice me." Hermione said, voice trembling.

"Snap out of it, Hermione. Is Snape likely to kill you?" Will asked.

"I think the answer to that would be 'yes', Will." Hermione muttered.

"The thing about being an apprentice, is that it's not just learning more about the field. It's about learning discipline. It's learning the subtleties in the things around you. It's learning to obey orders and figure out why you are doing those things without having to ask. It's about learning how to survive and teach others to survive. You learn a lot more things from being an apprentice than anything else. You love learning, so I don't see why you should have a problem." Phoebe said, staring daggers at a nearby third-year Gryffindor who was about to jinx her.

The third-year gave a little squeak in form of an 'eep!' before scuttling away from Phoebe's trademark glare. Phoebe allowed herself a smirk of victory before turning back to the conversation. Hermione nodded, feeling the constriction in her chest relax slightly and she could breathe calmly again.

"Just read through the contract he gives you. I don't think he'll alter it too much to his advantage, but he may try to catch you out. The problem with Potions is that it is an art that requires a lot of attention to detail. I'm almost sure he'll put in something that you will definitely dislike if you notice it. Bring a magnifying glass with you, or something. Be suspicious of every line, word and meaning." Phoebe warned.

Hermione could only nod.

"And you two! If you don't start supporting Hermione I'll hex you into next year, is that clear?" Phoebe said, growling.

Both boys paled significantly and nodded. They had heard enough stories from Will about Phoebe's infamous hexes, since Will had received more than one of them during his time at Phinxgild.

"Good. Anyway, Will and I are going for a walk, coming?"

"In a second." Hermione said.

Both nodded and left Hermione alone with Harry and Ron.

"Sorry, Hermione, I think I overreacted, putting a silly grudge in front of your happiness." Harry said, hugging her.

"I'm sorry, too. I just don't like the idea of apprenticing, but, if you need anything, you can owl us, and we'll come straight over and beat Snape up for you." Ron said.

Hermione smiled.

"Thank you."

They separated from their group hug, and Harry and Ron returned to their game of Wizard's chess while Hermione joined Will and Phoebe outside the portrait-hole and started on their walk. Hermione had an hour before she had to go and meet Snape, and so they chatted happily as they walked to the top of the Astronomy tower.

"Will, what are you planning on doing after school?" Phoebe asked.

"Me? I'm training to become an Auror. I'm sure it'll be fun. Plus, someone with the brains has to go with Harry and Ron."

"I'm afraid that neither Hermione nor I can go with you guys, so you'll have to find your brains somewhere else." Phoebe snorted.

Will pouted, but looked down over the edge. The view was beautiful. The sun was setting beyond the horizon and the sky was lit up in a mixture of fiery pinks and bright oranges. The forest looked large and daunting in the diminishing sunlight and the lake sparkled with increased fervour as the light began to fade, bringing darkness. Hagrid could be seen, pottering about in his garden. All three wondered what monster he was tending, and shuddered.

"Phoebe, what are _you _doing?" Hermione asked.

"Me?"

"After you've taken your NEWTs."

"Oh. I was actually going to take a Potions apprenticeship, but when I asked Snape, he had refused."

"Oh my God, I'm really sorry, I—"

"Hermione, he only takes in the best, and there's no doubt that you are the best this school has seen in ages." Phoebe said, cutting off her apology.

"Thanks. What are you going to do instead?"

"I've sent out proposals to other Potions Masters in the World."

"But didn't you want to be a Healer?" Will asked.

"I do, but a Healer is quite easy to find. It's a Healer with a Potions Mistress, or Master, qualification that is so rare."

"So you're planning on becoming a Potions' apprentice and then entering Healing?" Hermione asked.

"Yes. Though, I hope I get accepted by a Potions Mistress."

"Why not a Potions Master?" Will asked.

"I don't trust them. I mean, it would have been great if Snape had accepted me, because I can be sure he won't decide to rape me, but with other Potions Masters…"

Hermione had gone pale again.

"Hermione, there's nothing to worry about. Snape is trustworthy. He wouldn't do that sort of thing." Phoebe reassured her.

Hermione nodded and allowed herself to believe those words.

"Besides, with Dumbledore around, Snape won't be able to get away with doing anything to you."

Hermione smiled with relief.

"It's time for me to go. I'll be late, otherwise."

"We'll go with you."

And so, the trio made their way down to the dungeons, and it was with a heavy heart that Hermione said good bye to them, but, when she thought of what a wonderful opportunity had been presented before her, she began to feel excited once more. She knocked on the office door, entering only when she heard a loud, irritated 'enter'.

"Professor?"

"You are two minutes late, Miss Granger. I hope that you will be more prompt during your apprenticeship, or else it will not be an enjoyable experience for you." Snape scowled.

"Yes, sir." Hermione refrained from shuddering.

"All you have to do is read through the contract, and sign it. A warning, Miss Granger, once you have signed this contract, you will not be able to terminate it until I feel that you have finished your apprenticeship."

Hermione nodded and sat down in the chair, before reading through the document. She read through it once, without finding anything she did not like, but remembering Phoebe's words, she read through it once more, slower and more suspiciously this time. That was when she found the catch.


	12. Revelations

"I have not altered the contract from the standard Wizarding one, Miss Granger, but it… suffices to know that you were being adequately suspicious, on your _second_ read-through. It is actually illegal to alter this contract, although many Potions Masters and Mistresses have done so," He scowled. "to their own advantage, in the past. I have had my taste of law-breaking, Miss Granger."

"So you can't change this?" Hermione said, stunned.

"Having second thoughts, Miss Granger?" Snape sneered.

Hermione refrained from reminding him that it was he who advised her to take an apprenticeship. Instead, she chose to stare at the line over and over again.

"So I will be an equivalent of your slave during the time that I am your apprentice?" Hermione said, still in shock.

"Basically, yes, Miss Granger. I'm afraid that there are so few who take apprenticeships, or even have the ability to take one, that the Ministry is very vague on the details. But you must remember that I do have Professor Dumbledore and Professor McGonagall under the same roof, and I am not fond of having my head placed on a silver platter for taking… inappropriate actions against you."

Hermione felt a little more relieved. She picked up the quill next to the parchment and paused, unsure of what to do, when suddenly, she yelped in pain, dropping the quill on her lap. She quickly yanked her necklace out of her top and gasped as she clutched her chest, where the crystal had heated up a few minutes before.

"Merlin, Professor, did you want to kill me just now?" Hermione gasped.

She held onto the chain and the crystal spun in the air.

"I did not want anything of that sort, Miss Granger." Snape said angrily

"So who…" Hermione trailed off.

She drew out her wand and stood up shakily.

"Professor, Death Eaters are in the vicinity." Hermione said shakily.

"I will speak to the headmaster about this, do not move."

Snape threw a handful of floo powder into the fire and spoke to Professor Dumbledore as Hermione cast a cheering spell upon herself and gently tapped the crystal three times and called for Harry and Ron. Snape stood up and brushed off little flecks of soot, and looked at her.

"Professor Dumbledore says that there have been no change in the wards, so you have mistaken, Miss Granger."

Just then, there was a knock on Snape's door.

"Come in." Snape snarled, grinding his teeth.

Harry's head popped in and looked from Hermione to Snape.

"My _apologies_, sir. Hermione, did your crystal—?" Harry said.

Hermione nodded.

"Do you have the map with you?" Hermione asked.

"Yes."

"And your cloak?"

"No."

"Go get Ron and your cloak and check if any Death Eaters are around. If yes, be happy. If no, then… go back to Gryffindor, I suppose."

Harry nodded, and left. Snape looked at Hermione with an expression of scepticism when she said 'be happy'; why would someone want to be happy when there were Death Eaters nearby? Turning back to the parchment, Hermione signed it wondering why she felt this imminent sense of doom lingering above her head. Snape smirked and waved his wand. The contract folded itself and flew into a small see-through container that sat on the mantelpiece. Hermione sighed.

"Thank you, Professor."

"You will wish to begin your apprenticeship after your exams, I presume."

Hermione nodded.

"We will begin the day after your last exam."

Hermione knew a dismissal when she saw one and she muttered a good bye before departing the room. Suddenly, she felt extraordinarily happy. Then, the dread began to settle in. Harry had seen a Death Eater. Just then, there was a huge shudder in the building. The wards were being attacked! Hermione sprinted up to the Entrance Hall. Seeing a few startled students she began to take control again.

"Everyone! Return to your common rooms immediately. Tell that to anyone you meet in the corridors. Alert your house prefects to assemble everyone in the common rooms. If anyone is missing, alert the head of house."

The students scattered. Hermione then yanked open the school doors. Peering out she could see spells being cast in the far distance, by the gates of the school. Once the wards fell, then the whole of Voledmort's army would be able to apparate to any part of the school. It seemed that the Death Eaters were entering into the grounds. They had broken one of the wards. But they did not know where the other wards were centred. Or did they? Hermione immediately began her work.

She drew runes all over the area in front of the main doors, hoping that no one would see her. Unfortunately, that was thrown out the window when a killing curse missed her. She cast the activating spell on the runes and locked and bolted the doors. Then, she cast spells after spell at the door, warding it, placing traps on it, and anything else she could think of. She then drew more runes in the area just after the door and activated those. She drew a faint black line around the area of the runes, hoping that anyone with eyes, other than the Death Eaters, would be able to see it. She then drew more runes, around the large semi-circle of protecting runes, which would cause anyone beyond the line to be invisible to those on the other side.

She knew that she had just effectively sealed one of their exits, but it was necessary, especially now that Death Eaters were upon them. She was soon joined by a panting Harry and Ron.

"Hermione! They'll be at the school any minute, what should we do?" Ron gasped.

"I think that we should gather everyone and fight." Harry said determinedly.

"Harry, we will be fighting the whole of Voldemort's army."

"I want to get this over and done with. By the end of tonight, either I or Voldemort, will be dead." Harry said.

Hermione sighed.

"I'll go and get the DA." Harry said. "We'll meet back here."

"What should I do?" Ron asked.

"Hermione!" Will's voice cried.

"They're here, aren't they?" Phoebe said.

Both of them materialised at the end of the corridor.

"We need to get the school to safety. Ron, you get the Gryffindors and Amethysts. Will, you get the Slytherins and Emeralds. Phoebe and I can handle Ravenclaw, Diamonds, Hufflepuff and Topazes." Harry said.

"Don't try the floo. It'll be blocked." Hermione said.

"We can portkey from the tunnels." Harry said.

"I need to make a few portkeys then." Hermione said.

Make sure the ones who want to fight, and are above fifth year, stay behind." Harry told the others.

They huddled in a group as Hermione pulled out what little items she had in her pockets. Where were the teachers? She ignored that for the moment and concentrated. Where should she send them to? Hogsmeade will probably be overrun by now. Then it hit her. It may be a ruin, but at least the students should be out of harm's way. She charmed the five items into portkeys.

"Okay, Hermione, we're ready." Ron said, bravely standing up tall.

"Here, take one portkey for each house. I have an extra portkey for those who stay behind in the battle, in case…" Hermione looked at Harry. "Anyway, I'd advise you to use the portkeys while you are in the tunnels, or, if you want to come back, which I know Ron does, get someone trustworthy to operate these. It's the same as last time. Oh! Sorry, Ron. To activate the portkey, tap it three times. Go, all of you."

"What about you, Hermione?" Harry asked.

"I just remembered something, I need to go to the library."

"You're going to the library at a time like this?" Ron said sceptically.

"I think I've thought of a way… I can't believe I hadn't thought of it before! Well, I'm the only one… What are you doing? Go!" Hermione said ushering them off.

They all ran in different directions, and Hermione made her way to the library, the wards should hold for a while until the central force holding them together falls. She hurried into the library, frowning when she saw no Madam Pince, and went into the Restricted Section. She may as well take advantage of the lack of authority figures while she could.

She hurriedly looked through the books and found what she was looking for. _Ritualistic Magic._ She flipped open the book and frantically perused the pages. She had to find it. Time was running low, she could feel it. Especially when it was so quiet. Where on Earth were the teachers? She stopped her hand movements. She was staring at a page with a picture of a five pointed star. She found it.

_The Power of Five. Often a forgotten power, since it is presumed that the Power of Three is more efficient and therefore more powerful. However, the Power of Five united provides a stronger power. Each person must be able to trust the other four. By arranging the five persons in a formation similar to the one in the diagram above, where each person is at a point, they can trap and completely destroy or revive a person who stands in the central pentagon. However, one cannot revive a person who is dead. Total destruction of the intended victim requires very strong power. Once the star has been cast and joined to all five persons, the victim will be trapped and unable to escape. Complete destruction requires only one person to remain standing until the very end_.

Hermione quickly memorised the incantation and movements required before rushing out of the library. To her horror, the Death Eaters were already destroying the door. It had already been twenty minutes since she and her friends parted ways, yet no one was here! Then, Hermione felt her blood run cold. What if they had all gone without her? What if the teachers had forced everyone to go, and had left her behind? Where was everyone?

Grunts of annoyance floated to her ears and she smirked, at least she would be able to feel satisfied that her spells had detained the entrance of the Death Eaters. Her smirk died away. What would she do? Alone she was very vulnerable. She immediately decided to go to the dungeons, they were the nearest anyway. However, upon her arrival, she found that Snape's office was empty. The glass that Snape had been drinking from was now on the floor, smashed. Strange, that was also the last place that she had seen Snape. What was going on here? She went to the fireplace and tried to get into contact with the headmaster.

"Professor Dumbledore! Professor Dumbledore!" She shouted through the flames.

It was no use. No one was there. She tried the Gryffindor Common Room. It was empty. At least Ron had done his job right. She ran back to the Entrance Hall. Five minutes had passed, and she could see a few Death Eaters had entered into the threshold of the Entrance Hall. They could not see her, but they were all staring at the runes with looks of exasperation.

"More of them!" One growled.

"They're all over the floor! It'll take an age to get rid of them this time!" Another one added.

"It's a good thing we got rid of the teachers." Someone snickered. "The students will be completely helpless now."

There words chilled her to the bone. What did they mean by 'got rid of the teachers'? Hermione stared at the Death Eaters in horror. There was no one to protect the school! She tapped her crystal three times and whispered Harry and Ron's name, hoping they would sense her fear and come to find her. Then, she straightened up. She was still here, and she would fight. But she carefully slipped the portkey into her bra and changed the activation. As long as she yelled the password, it would activate itself, so that she would be transported out of there. Hopefully the wards would not stop her from portkeying. She knew that you could only portkey from Dumbledore's office, and hoped…

She shook her head clear. The Death Eaters, although it was taking time, were clearing away the runes she had drawn. She had made it more difficult this time, and you have to find the correct spell to erase each rune – each rune was different, and if the incorrect spell was said, the Death Eater who cast it would receive double what he cast. So, there were already a large heap of Death Eaters being put off to the side. Hermione pulled out her wand and sighed quietly. Perhaps Phoebe would be able to become Snape's apprentice after all.

As soon as they were approaching the line, Hermione began stunning and hexing them running around to make it seem as though there was more than one person. The Death Eaters tried to retaliate, but they could not, since they were fighting an invisible enemy, or so it seemed. Suddenly, it struck Hermione. The ghosts were missing. Where was everyone? She continued her fight, and the pile of Death Eaters grew higher and higher. Since many of them were concentrating on destroying the enemy, many of the Death Eaters cast the wrong spell at the runes, causing them to fly back and knock anyone they touched unconscious. That was the extra spells that Hermione had placed. She estimated that, about fifty Death Eaters, at the least, were down, so she only needed to get rid of about fifty more.

Hermione stopped firing spells, and made more runes. At random intervals, she would put more invisibility runes, but she did not have enough time. There were three paths available from the Entrance Hall, and all three had to be covered. It took a long time, but because the Death Eaters thought they had vanquished the enemy, they became somewhat more relaxed and went slowly and more accurately. Once Hermione was done, she was satisfied that the Death Eaters would be hindered for at least another half an hour (she had literally covered the entire room with runes) she departed for the Owlery.

When she arrived, she was dismayed to see that Voldemort's army had grown since the attack on Phinxgild. Those seventy or eighty Death Eaters that now lay unconscious, until a St. Mungo's Healer came along, only made up less than half of his army. Hermione hurriedly wrote a note to Dumbledore, saying that she had sent the students to safety, but could not find anyone. She did not want to leave until she was sure there was no one left in the school, but the ghosts had disappeared as well. Once she had sent two owls, both carrying the same message to the same person, she was struck with a brilliant idea. She ran across the school until she found him.

"Sir Cadogen! Please, have you seen the students?" Hermione asked breathlessly.

"Ah! Dear Lady! The students have all departed by portkey."

"So there's no one left in the school?" Hermione breathed a sigh of relief.

"My dear Lady, there is a small group who got left behind."

"Can you take me to them? This is urgent!" Hermione said frantically.

"Of course! Anything to aid a damsel in distress! Forwards ho!"

And he galloped off. She ran after him, trying to keep up. Unfortunately, he disappeared from sight about ten minutes later, and she cursed. She noticed that she was being led towards the Hospital Wing. Of course! She hadn't thought that there would be people there! Hermione hurried and finally made it, bursting through the doors. There were about ten students, all huddled together, crying. Most of them were first or second years. All were from different houses. Hermione approached them.

"Why are you crying?" Hermione asked.

"M-madam P-pomfrey vanished!" The smallest girl cried.

"Vanished?"

"She was just talking to us, but then, like she was using a portkey or something, she just disappeared. She looked really shocked when it happened." A boy said calmly.

He was an Amethyst, and Hermione sighed. Why did some people have to go through this nightmare twice? A crash sounded below and most of them burst into tears once more. Even the boy looked fearful. Hermione tried to calm them down, but found that she could not. They were all in hysterics now, screaming in fear.

"Shush! You need to keep quiet, or they will find us."

Hermione flicked her wand, causing the doors to shut and lock themselves. She knew it would not be long before the Death Eaters would get through. She picked up a pillow from one of the beds and charmed it into a portkey.

"Hold on! All of you!"

She tapped it three times. Nothing happened. The wards were still up, which meant that they could not portkey out.

"Follow me!"

She ran to the fireplace and they all took a scoop of it each. She put them through to Dumbledore's office in pairs, giving the pillow to the last boy. Just then, the doors burst open and a crowd of Death Eaters appeared.

"Hurry! Get into Dumbledore's office and tap it three times! Do not leave anyone behind." Hermione said to the Amethyst boy.

There were still four students left. Hermione covered them, casting spells at the Death Eaters and directing their attention away from the younger students. When she was sure all four had gone through, she turned to go. Unfortunately, a spell hit her back, and she fell, unconscious, to the ground.


	13. Running Away

Phoebe did not know the way to the Hufflepuff or Ravenclaw entries, nor did she know the passwords, but, Harry being Head Boy had that privilege. When they stepped foot into the Hufflepuff common room, they were bombarded with questions.

"What's going on?"

"What was that sound?"

They had finally calmed everyone down when a boy burst through the portrait-hole, panting.

"Will?" Phoebe said in confusion.

"The teachers—" he gasped. "The teachers have gone! They've been captured. I've got my students. We need to get out of here now."

"Those who want to fight—" Harry began.

"No, Harry, you can't fight. You don't even have a plan. We are going with them. Without Dumbledore, we will lose you without doubt. It's not because of your ability, but because I've seen the Death Eaters. We aren't trained to defeat over a hundred Death Eaters."

Harry looked furious, but he nodded in compliance.

"Hufflepuffs! Follow me!" Phoebe yelled.

"I'll get the Ravenclaws. We can portkey in the tunnels."

Phoebe nodded. Harry ran out of the portrait-hole first. He hurried to the Ravenclaw common room, and, forunately, they were much calmer than the Hufflepuffs, and followed Harry, although fearfully, without fuss. He ran into Ron in the hallway.

"Harry, the Gryffindors have portkeyed away. These are the ones who want to fight."

"Ron, we aren't fighting anymore." Harry said. "We have to go."

"What!"

"The teachers have gone, Ron, we can't defend the school by ourselves. Hogwarts is finished. Come on! We're wasting time. Everyone, make sure you are holding hands with the person behind you, so that you don't get left behind when we portkey out."

Harry and Ron entered last. Before Harry tapped the portkey, Ron stopped him.

"What about Hermione?" he asked.

"Hermione's a smart girl. She'll get herself out of here when she realises that everyone's gone." Harry replied.

"What if there're still people?"

"There won't be. I'm sure that someone would have told us if someone was missing." Harry said reassuringly.

"I still have a bad feeling about this Harry. We really should go after her." Ron said.

"We only have one portkey, Ron, and neither of us know how to apparate."

"She has an extra portkey on her."

"What if she portkeys off without us? We would both be dead. What use is that?" Harry said.

"That's a really pessimistic view on things." Ron said.

"The last time I tried to act the hero to save someone, I got that person killed, remember?" Harry said, eyes flashing.

"Sorry, Harry. Okay, let's go."

As soon as Harry's wand touched the portkey the third time, they both knew they had made a mistake. Both had an alien feeling of extreme fear and vulnerability as they were jerked behind the navel. With a swirl of colours and a burst of wind, they found themselves, thrown onto the ground, by a charred building.

"Where are we?" Ron said, looking around.

There were lights in the building, and everyone made for it silently. Upon reaching the door, they found that the wood had been violently hacked through, most likely by the metal axe that lay on the ground. Upon entering the hall, they found students everywhere, crying. Phoebe and Will were standing and giving chocolate out. The Ravenclaws and the rest of the Gryffindors rushed in, and sat down. Most began to cry and others just stared blankly at a spot in front of their eyes. When they saw Harry and Ron, Will and Phoebe came over.

"Where's Hermione?" They asked.

Harry was choking. A horrible feeling crept up his back and he felt nauseous as his head and scar throbbed. He had failed Hermione. Hermione called out to them just as he escaped to safety. He turned around and punched the wall, crying out in his anguish.

"We left her behind!" Another punch. "Another one of my friends has been killed because of my idiocy."

"Harry, calm down!" Phoebe said, but to no avail.

"Harry, Hermione's a clever girl, she'll get herself out of there." Ron said.

"Harry, does your map work outside of Hogwarts?" Will asked.

Harry stopped punching the wall and took out the crumpled parchment from his pocket. They all stared at it as the ink made its way across the paper, and they flipped through it, until they found her spot. It was obvious that she was fighting the Death Eaters. The Death Eaters seemed to be trapped behind an invisible wall just by the door. Many were faded dots, saying that they were unconscious.

"There's no way she can beat them all." Ron squeaked.

"Why aren't the Death Eaters moving forwards?" Harry asked.

"Hermione's using the same trick as last time. She's improved though." Phoebe said. "She probably put a bunch of runes along here. Booby trapped the whole place. She doesn't seem to be getting hit, so she might have made a wall that stopped their spells from reaching her."

"Or she could have made herself invisible." Will said.

"I have the invisibility cloak." Harry said grimly.

"There are runes that can trick the human eye." Phoebe said. "Hermione's a clever person. Wait. Where's she going?"

Hermione's dot moved in large arches, starting a few feet away from the Death Eaters until she was up against the walls.

"She's putting more runes down." Will said.

And then, her dot fled the room. Harry flipped the pages, until they saw her in the Owlery.

"She's calling for help." Harry said, with a lump in his throat.

The dot froze, but began to run again, and stopped somewhere on the other side of the school.

"What on Earth is she doing?" Will said.

The lamps flickered and all four drew their wands and turned around. It was only the wind. Sighing, they returned to their previous activity.

Hermione was now running. Down a few corridors, zig-zagging. Her dot paused, as though she were lost, but it started moving again. She entered the Hospital Wing. They all looked at the map in horror.

"There were still people in the school." Ron said hoarsely.

Unfortunately, the people nearby heard this and burst into tears, causing a Mexican wave of tearshedding to spread across the room. Harry and co. ignored this and continued looking at the map. They gasped in horror. The Death Eaters were spilling into the school. Hermione's dots and the students' dots were still frozen in place.

"Come on, Hermione. Get out of there!" Harry said angrily.

As though hearing his words, the group moved towards one corner of the fire place. The students disappeared two by two. Ron whimpered, and he was right to. Death Eaters burst into the room, and Hermione moved towards them, as the others moved away. The last two pairs disappeared, and Hermione's dot sped towards the corner, and froze. The dot paled grey.

"NO!" All four yelled.

The people nearby watched them in fright. Harry turned and rammed his fist into the wall, sobbing. Ron had walked off in a different direction. Will stared blankly at the map. Only Phoebe remained calm and turned over the page.

"Harry, the other students are coming. We must go meet them and bring them in." Phoebe said.

"Why? Hermione…" Harry said.

"Harry, if you don't stay strong, these students will fall apart. You are their leader." Phoebe hissed into Harry's ear.

"I don't care anymore." He said back.

"So you're going to let Hermione's sacrifice go to waste?" Phoebe spat angrily. "You should at least understand why she listens to you and nobody else! Because even if she is the thinker – the brains of all this,"

Phoebe gestured around her, at the students, at the place itself.

"She listens to you because you are the leader. You are Head Boy, and you are the one who will lead the students to battle, if need be. Dumbledore isn't here. No teacher is here. Everyone is relying on you. Are you going to let them down? Are you going to let Hermione down?"

Harry stared at Phoebe and hugged her.

"Thank you. I'm sorry. I just… I never wanted this responsibility."

"Even if you don't want it, you've been given it. So, are you going to stay here and sulk? Or are you going to come with me?"

Harry nodded.

"Wait for me!" Ron said.

All three looked expectantly at Will, who was still clutching the map. He folded it and gave it back to Harry.

"You aren't going anywhere without me." He said, grinning.


	14. Secret Keeper eq

Hermione woke up to find her wrists manacled behind her back. She was in a dark cell, and alone, by the looks of it. She was lying on a wooden plank, held up by rusted chains. She sat up painfully, and looked around. The cell was rectangular, about the width and length of a double bed. There was a door at the end, which had no windows or handles.

The first thing she did was to stretch her legs and think. She was alive, so that meant that Voldemort had some plans involving her. She was still fully clothed, so she had not been raped… yet. She guessed that her wand had been removed.

She sat on the floor and, using her bottom as a pivot, pointed on finger on the ground and drew a large circle around her. Now was the difficult part. She stood up once more, before lowering her body until her hand reached the floor. It took a few attempts before she managed to stay balanced as she drew the rune. Then she pressed her palm on, what she hoped was, her drawing of the rune. Since the ground was made of solid stone, she wasn't actually sure whether she had put her hand on the drawing or not. She swallowed and pushed all of her energy into her thoughts. If she tried hard enough, it might just work...

"_Protego… protego… protego…_" She repeated it over and over again.

Suddenly, the door was flung open and a man with long blonde hair entered. Behind him, a cloaked, snake-like being watched her position with amusement.

"What are you trying to do, Miss Granger?" The vile creature asked.

Hermione ignored him, and continued muttering the spell. Lucius Malfoy smirked and flicked his wand.

"_Crucio_."

What happened next was completely unexpected to all present in the room. As though there was a force field around her body, the spell dissolved within inches of her face.

"What in Merlin's name is this!" Malfoy yelled.

"This, Lucius, is wandless magic. A spell, combining with a rune for protection. Such an intelligent creature. It would be a shame to have intelligence such as your wasted." Voldemort said, approaching her.

She looked up at him in fear. What was he going to do to her?

"My plans have, once again, been thwarted, by you. The teachers, ghosts and house-elves were easy to remove, once I had removed the barrier that prevented Death Eaters from entering into the school and Dark Magic to be cast on another human being."

"What did you do to them?" Hermione snarled.

"Unfortunately, I could not harm them directly, as a number of other wards prevented that from happening. I merely transported them somewhere where they could only escape by foot. Once past the perimeters, they would have been able to apparate, but even they would have known that it was too late. It takes over four hours to make it by foot, and then they would have to apparate to Hogsmeade before they can walk back to the school." Voldemort cackled.

"Why didn't you kill them?" Hermione asked curiously.

"That would have been too easy." He said, gazing at her with his red eyes. "No, I want the Wizarding World to see that even Hogwarts is not safe, but to do that…"

His eyes narrowed at her, and she dredged up what Occlumency she had learnt off Harry and tried to shut him out.

"I need to kill every single one of those students." He hissed. "And once that has been done, those who had entrusted their children to Dumbledore's care will blame him, and the Wizarding World will come to me."

He laughed, and laughed, non-stop. A long distance away, Harry Potter awoke from his dreams with a burning scar.

After a few minutes, he stopped and pointed his wand at her.

"_Wingardium Leviosa_." He hissed.

To Hermione's dismay, she floated high into the air.

"Your new spell, seems to only ward off attacks. This charm is neither attack nor defence. Lucius, wipe out the rune."

He nodded and did as he was told. Hermione was then dumped on the ground where she was immediately placed under the Cruciatus. She screamed, but she did not reveal the location where she had sent the students. She would never tell. Never.

"Merlin! Harry! Harry!" Ron's voice broke through the pain in Harry's head.

Harry stopped screaming and breathed deeply, clutching his scar. He shivered and wondered why he was so cold. Memories of what had happened the night before crashed down upon him.

"Is Potty scared because he had a little nightmare?" A low voice drawled.

"Shut up, Malfoy." Another voice said.

Harry sat up and saw Malfoy at three people's wand-point. He stood up and waved them aside.

"No. We mustn't fight." Harry said. "Malfoy. For the sakes of the rest of the students, please can we just put aside our differences for a while?"

"I don't see why I have to listen to _you_, Potter."

"Oi! Show some respect." Will said.

"Will, stop it. Malfoy, we know you hate Potter's guts. Potter hates yours. He's not asking you for much, just to be civil."

Malfoy snorted at Phoebe's words.

"Malfoy, I'll tell you why you should listen to me. Because I was appointed your leader. I did not ask for it, nor do I want it."

"And who appointed you?" Malfoy sneered.

"The girl who saved your neck last night. Not just yours, but everyone in this room owes her their lives, some have even escaped twice because of her. So don't you dare go on about her being a stupid little Mudblood. Voldemort has her, and she is being tortured until she reveals our location. Once she does, no one will be spared. Not even you, Malfoy. He wants to kill everyone." Harry snapped.

The students around them were stirring. Malfoy's face paled.

"He wouldn't-he wouldn't kill—"

"Everyone, Malfoy. He isn't even going to spare his potential Death Eaters-to-be."

Malfoy flushed a little before sighing in defeat.

"I'll listen to you, for now." He said, eyes burning with hatred.

He turned on his heels and swiftly made his way to the other end of the room. Harry sighed. At least someone was being co-operative. It was barely four in the morning. Phoebe, Will and Ron were at hand, ready to receive orders.

"Where should we take them? We can't stay here. Hermione won't reveal us willingly, but the Cruciatus…" Harry trailed off.

"Hogwarts is empty." Will muttered.

"But they might have put sensors in the school, to tip them off." Phoebe countered.

"But it's the only place of safety. There isn't any other place I can think of." Ron said.

Harry nodded.

"Hogwarts it is, then. Phoebe, you may be sceptical but we have about four hundred students here." Harry said.

"Yes, and how many does You-Know-Who have?" Phoebe said, sounding rather aloof.

"Probably a lot more. But he's very good at underestimating people. And, this time, we'll be on the alert." Harry said.

"I still don't think it's a good idea." Phoebe frowned.

"The Death Eaters wouldn't be bothered to stay and put sensory spells all over the place. Too time consuming."

They all jumped. Malfoy was amongst them again, eyes downcast.

"Uh… Thanks." Harry said, uncertainly.

"How are we going to get them there though?" Phoebe said.

"Well, we need to get the youngest ones to safety first." Harry added.

"The Knight Bus." Ron said.

"That's a good idea. The Knight Bus can bring us to Hogsmeade. If it was attacked yesterday, then Aurors would be there, and the students would be brought home. If it wasn't then, we would have a clear path back to Hogwarts." Harry said.

"But the Knight Bus only takes sixty passengers at most." Phoebe pointed out.

"And we are four hundred." Malfoy said.

"We'll send the younger ones back with a few seventh years who can defend them if anything happens." Harry said.

They all nodded.

"Can't we let them sleep for a while longer?" Will said, gazing at a huddle of first years, sleeping soundly under a blanket.

"Do you think He will wait until we're all wide awake to attack?" Malfoy snapped. "He'll kill us as soon as Granger spills."

"He's right." Harry said. "We have to get going now."

"Let's wake only the people who are going. Or else this will turn chaotic." Phoebe said.

Everyone nodded in agreement.

"Malfoy, I want you, Ron, Will, Crabbe, Goyle," Harry said another ten seventh-years' names and Will and Malfoy nodded, immediately waking those people up but asking them to keep quiet.

Harry and Phoebe woke the first and second years up, asking them to be quiet. It was still very dark out, but Harry feared that sunrise would bring Voldemort with it. Soon, everyone was assembled at the door.

"I can't believe you're making me do this, Harry. I can't stand him." Ron muttered.

"Ron, Malfoy's making an effort to be civil. Do the same. Will, I want you to take charge. You know this area a lot better. Take everyone towards Phinxmere, and signal the Knight Bus there. No matter what happens, defend the younger ones. Malfoy, I'll assume you have money on you. You'll be reimbursed, even if it has to be from my own pocket, just pay for everyone. You'll have to do the trip twice, so Will will divide you into two groups." Harry ordered.

Malfoy nodded, scowling. Then, they left. As soon as they were out of sight, Harry began discussing with Phoebe once more.

"What's the best route to Hogwarts?" Harry asked.

"We could try flooing, but it's dangerous. It could be watched." Phoebe cautioned.

Harry frowned.

"There must be some way…"

They sat down and thought to themselves.

Before long, the sun was up, and most of the students were awake. When they noticed that there were people missing, many cried out.

"Calm! Everyone, please calm down!" Harry yelled over the din.

"_Sonorus_." Phoebe said, pointing at Harry's voice.

"There is no need for panic. I have sent the younger years back to Hogwarts, with a few seventh-years, because, hopefully, the teachers will be back by now."

That was a lie, but it calmed many people down. Most of the students did not wish to return to Hogwarts. But many grumbled about wishing they had been chosen.

"I would like to know who here can apparate!" Harry said.

A lot of hands were raised, including Harry's and Phoebe's.

"Okay. Those who can apparate, take two other students, preferably the younger ones, and apparate to Hogsmeade. Be prepared to defend yourselves as soon as you arrive." Harry said. "As soon as those people have arrived, Phoebe will choose a group of you to return for the rest of us."

There were nods, and Phoebe grabbed two third-years and apparated. This left Harry with a small group of about forty students. Mainly fifth years. There were a small group of fourth years and sixth years and a very small number of seventh years. If Voldemort struck now, they would be very vulnerable indeed.

Hermione was in pain, and she could feel her mind recoiling, frying from the pain. She wanted to do anything, just for the pain to stop. Somehow, her heart told her not to give in, and she kept screaming obscenities and nonsense, to prevent herself from telling the truth.

Soon, her grip on reality slipped. The last thing she consciously remembered doing was gripping the crystal that hung around her neck and bellowing Harry and Ron's names.

_Please help me..._

* * *

Dear Readers,

Thank you for bearing with me. This story has been surprisingly difficult to write. I appreciate all the encouragement that my reviewers have been giving me, and thank you for your criticisms as well.

A special thank you to:

Ghzowy

Pstibbons

Pure Girl

Wolfeye

JTBJAB

Linean

Jash89

HermioneTheSlytherinPrincess

Phantominhell

Severus-Fan

CareBearErin

EvilIrishChik

Sarah

--blossomedangel--


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